German Basketball Federation Submits Bid To Host EuroBasket 2015 Games In Berlin

The German Basketball Federation (DBB) "has submitted a bid to host EuroBasket 2015 preliminary round games in Berlin," according to the DPA. DBB President Ingo Weiss said, "I could imagine that it would be a great thing for Dirk [Nowitzki] to play in Germany one more time. If we are able to qualify for the European championship then our first task will be talking to him if he wants to play for Germany." Two weeks ago, Nowitzki "remained open to the idea, in particular because Germany could qualify for the 2016 Rio Games by playing a good EuroBasket tournament." The original host of EuroBasket 2015, Ukraine, "returned its hosting rights due to the ongoing conflict in the country." The DBB said that "it submitted its application on time to FIBA Europe." In addition to Germany, France, Croatia, Finland, Israel, Latvia, Poland and Turkey "have also submitted bids to host part of the event" (DPA, 8/1).