The Swedish National Team has barred Jonas Jerebko from playing for them, after the star forward signed with Russian club CSKA Moscow. Sweden has condemned Russia invasion of Ukraine.

Jerebko recently signed with CSKA to finish out the 2022 regular season. Russian clubs are currently banned from international competitions, but can compete domestically. Jerebko was added after CSKA, same as many other Russian clubs, lost players following the invasion of Ukraine.

The 10-year NBA veteran Jerebko has been playing overseas for the last three seasons. He played for the Swedish National Team has recently as late-February, when Sweden took on Croatia in a pair of games. Jerebko started both of those games, scoring 16 points in the second matchup.

When Russia invaded Ukraine, basketball was far from what was top of mind. The first priority in the basketball world was getting players out of Ukraine safely. Now, as the war in Ukraine continues, several players have found themselves struggling to get free of their contract with Russian clubs.

Despite asking for releases, there are many documented refusals by Russian clubs to allow players to leave. At this point, it appears several cases are headed for arbitration through legal means.

In some cases, players have been able to work buyouts, but others have been told that the club will not entertain buyout talks. Players are unable to change teams unless they receive a Letter of Clearance from FIBA stating they are no longer under any contractual obligations.

James Ennis has agreed to sign with Hapoel Haifa of Israel.

Ennis had signed 10-day contracts with the Brooklyn Nets, Los Angeles Clippers and Denver Nuggets this season.

In 41 games with Orlando last season, Ennis averaged 8.4 points per game and made 43.3% of his three-point attempts.

Ennis plans to leave the door open for a return to the NBA.

Brittney Griner was reportedly detained in Russia sometime last month. Reports are that Griner was arrested at the Moscow airport after a search of her luggage turned up cannabis vape cartridges.

Russian authorities have not specified that Griner was arrested, nor the date of the arrest, but did say it was a USA women's basketball player. Griner was in Russia to play for UMMC Ekaterinburg. During the WNBA offseason, several US-born players play overseas.

Griner's agent, Lindsay Kagawa Colas, did not dispute Griner had been detained in a statement.

“We are aware of the situation with Brittney Griner in Russia and are in close contact with her, her legal representation in Russia, her family, her teams, and the WNBA and NBA,” Kagawa Colas said Saturday. “As this is an ongoing legal matter, we are not able to comment further on the specifics of her case but can confirm that as we work to get her home, her mental and physical health remain our primary concern.”

Indiana Pacers guard Malcolm Brogdon would like to suit up for Poland's national team in future international competitions. Reports out of Poland are that they will look to make Brogdon a naturalized citizen to make him eligible for Polish National Team.

Brogdon traveled through Poland extensively last summer, and his wife has Polish roots. The belief is that Brogdon would like to play at the national team level, and his prospects for doing so with Team USA are limited.

Poland has featured Baylor Bears forward Jeremy Sochan on their roster in recent events. Sochan became the youngest player to play for the Polish senior team, when he led Poland over Romania in a EuroBasket qualifier. Poland hopes that Brogdon and Sochan can take them to new heights on the national team level.