Ben Gordon Admits Regret at Not Playing for GB

By Sam Neter on December 27, 2015

Ben Gordon Great Britain Basketball Olympics

British passport holder and NBA veteran Ben Gordon has admitted his regret at never suiting up for Great Britain.

Born in London, Gordon moved to the US as a baby and was recruited by British Basketball in 2008, however, never ended up donning the jersey. The closest he came was attending GB vs Bosnia & Herzegovina in Liverpool in 2010.

Now a 32 year old free agent, the former Chicago Bulls, Detroit Pistons, Charlotte Bobcats and most recently, Orlando Magic, guard told Express sport:

“Do I regret not playing? I definitely do regret that. It seemed like every summer something came up. Specifically that summer (London 2012 Olympics) I had a knee issue that I was nursing. Right before the Olympics came up they kinda suggested I rested it.

“I wish I could have been there. It was something I’m sure the fans really loved, watching their team at the Olympics.

“I really did want to play pretty badly. I caught a couple of the games. I watched the Spain game. It was close, but obviously we were a bit overmatched. I was wishing I was there playing.”

A former teammate to GB start Luol Deng, Gordon added:

“For me, playing for GB was a no-brainer. I had dual citizenship. Luol was my team-mate. We always talked about the prospect of playing over there. I never wanted to play international basketball for another country. I was excited about it. It would have made my family proud.”

The Express stated that Gordon “continues to insist he would consider playing for GB if the opportunity ever came up again.”

Read the full interview at the Express.

Do you like our work?

We have a tiny favour to ask. In 2018 we set out to make Hoopsfix sustainable by building our relationship directly with our readers. Up until now, Hoopsfix has been creating editorials, videos and podcasts to provide sorely missing coverage of the British game and its distinct culture and community.

We have funded Hoopsfix with our freelance work creating basketball media, but sadly that means not only does it fall behind our client’s priorities, but some of those clients are the same organisations we need to report objectively on putting us in a conflicted position.

We want to devote more time to our mission of helping British basketball reach its potential, and produce even more content for the basketball community by making Hoopsfix a sustainable 100% independent business funded directly by our readers through Patreon.

If everyone who enjoys our content chose to support us, our future would be much more secure. For as little as $3 per month, you can support Hoopsfix – and it only takes a minute.

We are tremendously honoured and humbled to have a community of people who value what we do, and we look forward to being at the forefront of the British game as it continues to evolve.

Support Hoopsfix