Something Funny In Turkey

Completely bizarre story out of Turkey, a place where most bizarre stories all end up anyway.

Here's the setup: The Turkish national team is nailing down its roster for the basketball World Championships in August in Japan, and they turned down Hedo Turkoglu's attempts to play for the team because he said needed an extra week or so to recover from an injury. (Turkoglu is famous and beloved in Turkey, thanks in part to his returning to the country last year to complete his military service obligation.)

That's odd — Turkoglu's very confused — but that's not the strangest part. Also Turkish? Utah Jazz center Mehmet Okur. But is he going to play? He's not, because he provided a medical report claiming he can't play because he missed the entire NBA season. Except, uh ... he didn't miss the entire NBA season; he actually didn't miss a game.

And you know what? They'll still beat the U.S.

Turkey Players Are Chicken [Some Fine Fellows]