Charles Jenkins: 'I wouldn't play for Serbia even if they invited me' / News - Basketnews.com

Charles Jenkins wouldn't play for the Serbian national team even if he was asked to. The player also supports Shane Larkin in his comments about being a different player on the national team than in the club competitions.

Credit: Fotodiena.lt/E.Blaževičius Credit Fotodiena.lt/E.Blaževičius

With Lorenzo Brown leading Spain to the EuroBasket 2022 final, the discussion about naturalized players in European national teams rose to the forefront again.

Charles Jenkins

Position:PG, SGAge:33Height:191 cmWeight:100 kgBirth place:Brooklyn, United States of AmericaProfileNewsStatistics

Charles Jenkins played several seasons for Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade throughout multiple years, he has a Serbian passport and has even been featured on a Serbian trivia show as an answer to one of the questions.

Talking with Serbian news outlet Mondo, Jenkins revealed his view about joining the Serbian national team if he was asked.

"Honestly, I wouldn't play for Serbia even if they invited me. Yes, I have a passport, but Serbs are proud people," Jenkins told. "People want players born in Serbia to play for the national team. I wouldn't even think about it, I would never do it, I respect the Serbs' position on this."

"They sent me messages on social media about it but Serbia has a handful of talented players who are growing, developing, and should be given a chance," the player explained. "I would not like to find myself in such a situation. If, in theory, it would happen, some would be happy to see me in a Serbian jersey, some wouldn't, it's too much pressure playing for another national team."

Jenkins has spent four seasons with Zvezda over three separate tenures. This year, he's coming back to play in Serbia for FMP Meridian.

Even though he no longer plays at the highest level, the guard has been following EuroBasket and the preparatory matches closely.

"I watched the match between Turkey and Serbia and I saw that [Shane] Larkin missed some shots that he normally takes. Then I also saw what he wrote on Twitter and that's what people don't understand. It's not the same in different clubs, let alone in the national team," Jenkins explained.

"When I was in Zvezda, I had a role in attack, shooting, when I changed the team, I was asked to be more focused on defense," he continued. "Shane is an American who plays for another national team. There are [Cedi] Osman, [Furkan] Korkmaz, [Sertac] Sanli - they all ask for the ball. He is asked to involve his teammates, yet he plays with basketball players who were born in Turkey and who have more pressure because of that."

Both Serbia and Turkey got eliminated in the Round of 16 in EuroBasket 2022. The final of the tournament between France and Spain will take place today at 20:30 CET.

Support BasketNews so we could make even better content.