Current Denver Nuggets forward but likely a soon-to-be free agent, Nene has informed the Brazilian National Basketball Team that he will not compete with the team his summer:
The Brazilian basketball confederation said Nene asked to be released on Friday, citing "personal" and "contractual" reasons.
Apparently, this was a one-sentence release that didn't offer any deeper reasons for this move. By skipping out on the Brazilian National Team, Nene will not play the in 2011 FIBA Americas Championship, which is a 10-team tournament for qualifying for the 2012 London Olympics.
Maybe Nene has already set his sights on a rich, new contract by opting out of his contract and then doesn't want to risk injury before he even plays one game under a new contract. With so little provided by Nene, we can try to make much out of nothing.
For anyone wondering, the United States won the 2010 FIBA World Championship, picked up an automatic qualifier for the Olympics as a result and withdrew from the FIBA Americas Championship