GB captain Sullivan annoucnes retirement from international basketball

BySportsbeat

Published 15/07/2016 at 11:52 GMT

Great Britain captain Drew Sullivan admits that competing at the London 2012 Olympic Games is the standout memory of his career after announcing his retirement from international basketball.

Eurosport

Image credit: Eurosport

Sullivan was involved in GB's first training session of the modern era back in 2006 and went on to make a century of appearances for his country during a decade of service.

The 36-year-old played in 100 of a possible 113 games for Great Britain in the last ten years with 45 of those appearances in either EuroBasket or during the 2012 Olympic Games.

Sullivan has been a key figure in GB's improvement over the past few years, which included helping the side qualify for a first EuroBasket in 2009, and concedes it was not easy to opt for international retirement.

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"This was a massively tough decision and something that I went back and forth on, for quite a while," he said.

"I'm going to miss representing my country and wearing the Great Britain vest. I'll miss going out and playing with the guys that I've been with for over a decade.

"You build relationships with them when you're in the trenches together and it's going to be tough to see them playing when I'm not in the locker room, on the bench or in warm-ups.

"But I've enjoyed it. I wish them all the best and I want the national team to be successful. I want them to be a team that we can be proud of.

"Obviously London 2012 is the easy highlight to pick out, but going out and playing with guys who I grew up with, there's nothing like doing that alongside your friends.

"You play on different teams and you become friends. But I knew that I'd walk into the team with 11 other friends on the bench."

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