ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Jamal Murray announced Wednesday that he will not be able to represent Canada at the Basketball World Cup because he needs to recover from a grueling season over which he became NBA champion with the Nuggets.

Murray was at a Canadian team camp earlier this month, but did not accompany them to Germany and Spain for pre-World Cup warm-ups to test whether or not he would play.

“When I arrived at training camp, I wanted to see how my physique would respond after a long and demanding season, and whether I was physically capable of competing at the highest level required for the World Cup,” Murray said in a statement. press release published by the Canadian Federation.

“In consultation with the medical staff and the team, it is clear that further recovery is necessary and I have made the difficult decision not to participate in the tournament,” he added. “I still dream of representing Canada at the Olympic Games and will support the team every step of the way in pursuit of that goal.

Canadians will qualify for the 2024 Paris Games if they place in the top two in the Americas at the World Cup. Otherwise, they will have to participate in a qualifying event to access the Olympic event.

Murray joins a long list of NBA players who attempted to compete in the World Cup but withdrew due to injuries or to recover. One of them is Serbian Nikola Jokic, his Nuggets teammate who was the NBA Finals MVP. The Greek Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee), the Latvian Kristaps Porzingis (Boston) and the Frenchman Victor Wembanyama (San Antonio) were also excluded.

Canada will face France, Latvia and Lebanon in the group stage of the tournament which begins August 25 in the Philippines, Japan and Indonesia.

The Canadians – whose stronghold will be goalkeeper Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Oklahoma City) – will play in Jakarta.

Denver was crowned in June, and the decisive phase of the World Cup will end just three weeks before the opening of pre-season camps.