BRUSSELS (Jeff Taylor's Eurovision) - The worldwide basketball family is pulling hard for former Belgium international Sebastien Bellin, one of the victims of the terrorist attacks in Brussels on Tuesday.

At least 31 people are believed to have been killed and numerous others are seriously hurt after bombs were set off at the country's main international airport and at a central metro station.

The sight of Bellin lying on the floor with serious injuries after the blasts in a photo that hit the social media, along with the rest of news coverage, has caused shock, outrage, sadness. Former teammates were quick to show their support.

Belgians have been reacting to events, many of them basketball players. 

Belgium national team coach Eddy Casteels spoke on Wednesday morning about a player that he knows very well.

"Sebastien was the captain of the national team for several years," Casteels told me. "He was a part of what the reconstruction of Belgium basketball was all about."

Belgium struggled for good results for a long time but their fortunes began to change several years ago when Bellin was in the team. They have played at the last three EuroBaskets.

Sebastien was the kind of person that sent a message to everybody that it was not about him. He was always about basketball being first, somebody else first and he wasn't there about personal success. - Casteels

Bellin, 37, who now works for Keemotion Media Production, attended Monday's launch of FIBA's Basketball Champions League in Paris. The Antwerp Giants, one of his former clubs, had been at the airport in Brussels to fly to Italy for a basketball game on Monday but were fortunately not caught in the chaos.

One of Bellin's college coaches in Michigan, where he played for Oakland University, Greg Kampe, talked about his former player.

Kampe also spoke to the Detroit Free Press. "I was pretty devastated over all of this," he said.

Seb has been very loyal, even when he was playing in Europe, he'd come back every summer, he'd work out with the team, he'd come to my camps, I was on the phone with him all the time. During the year he would text me, tweet me, call me and he's just a kid that stayed really, really loyal to the program. He's been somebody that we really stay in touch with. - Kampe

Bellin played professionally in Italy, Belgium, the Czech Republic and the Netherlands.

Casteels, who is still the national team boss but also coaches in the Netherlands, was in immediate contact with his family back in Belgium after news of the attacks.

"It's not just about the Belgian basketball family, it's for everybody," he said. "Where is the spot where you can feel safe now? It's amazing."

Casteels says that he will be in touch with Bellin when the timing is right. He wants him to know that he and everyone else is there for him.

"Right now, I would just tell him that I wish him the best recovery possible, and wish his family well but also all of those other people that have been affected by this," he said.

Jeff Taylor

FIBA

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