oronto Raptors point guard Jose Calderon is taking off the summer.
The Spanish national team star announced his plans on his website Sunday, marking the first summer since he joined the Raptors for the 2005-06 season that he didn’t play for his country. It will also be the first summer since he was 13 years old that he wasn’t with the national team program.
“This morning [Sunday] I called José Luis Sáez, president of the [Spanish Basketball Federation]. I asked him, if he was considering my inclusion, to exclude me from the pre-selection for the European Championships that will be played in Poland this summer,” Calderon said on his site.
“This was a very difficult decision for me to make because I think that everyone knows that my involvement with the national team is concrete. I have played with them uninterrupted in all of the categories since I was 14 years old and I was very excited about participating in this Championship.”
While doubtless disappointing to Spain, which has emerged as the best basketball nation in the world after the United States in recent years – they won gold at the world championships in 2006; silver at the European championships in 2008 and silver at the Olympics last year – it’s doubtless a relief for the Raptors.
Calderon was signed to a five-year, $45-million (U.S.) contract last summer but struggled much of this season with injuries to his hamstring and later with a dislocated ring finger on his left hand. He played 68 out of a possible 82 games, but was rarely in optimum health.
Shortly after the season ended he has surgery on his finger.
While NBA teams are not permitted to request players not to play this summer for Spain, it was clear the Raptors had outlined their preferences.
Calderon, in turn, signalled that he was considering taking the summer off.
“I know that now I need to rest, recuperate well from the injuries from this season and seriously prepare for the upcoming NBA season where my team requires 100 per cent of my effort to improve our results from last year,” Calderon, who averaged 12.8 points and 8.9 assists this past season, said on his website.
“I want to be clear that this waiver is only temporary- it is not taken lightly. Rather, it was a result of the outcomes of various consultations and medical tests that I have undergone in the past few days.”
