FRA - Noah still committed to France

NEW YORK (FIBA World Championship) - Joakim Noah has insisted he remains committed to the France cause despite pulling out of the FIBA World Championship this year while he negotiates a new contract with the Chicago Bulls.

It was confirmed last week that the 25-year-old will not be in Turkey when the tournament tips off at the end of the month, and that is because he wants to sign a new deal with the Bulls before the NBA season starts.

"Of course that's the goal," he told ESPNChicago.com. "I'm not really worried about it. I think everything's going to happen with time and at the end of the day, I'm really excited about the upcoming season."

Noah is entering the fourth year of his rookie contract.

While he chose to prioritise a new deal and recovery from injury over France this summer, he wants to be a part of the national team going forward.

"I came off a pretty tough injury with the plantar fasciitis and we're negotiating my contract right now that's basically going to get me financially set for a little while so I can't really mess that up," he said. "My priority is definitely with the Bulls right now.

"The Olympics is something I'm definitely looking forward to, and it's really tough because I know the French team is playing in [Madison Square] Garden against Team USA [this Sunday in New York] and that's kind of something that I want to do.

"But I understand that [playing for the French national team] wouldn't be the right thing to do right now because I still came off a pretty tough injury with the plantar fasciitis and I want to be a hundred percent for the season."

FIBA