Beiran on long wait before Spain debut: "It was worth it"

TENERIFE (FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 European Qualifiers) - Javier Beiran had to wait and wait and wait, but finally this past week made his Spain bow in the FIBA Basketball World Cup Qualifiers.

Not only did he run onto the court for the first time since wearing a Spain jersey at youth level, the 30-year-old also, at last, followed in his father's footsteps.

His dad, Jose Manuel Beiran, represented Spain 26 times and was a member of the country's silver-medal winning side at the 1984 Olympics.

Against Belarus, Beiran banked in his first 3-ball and ended up drilling four more and scoring 13 points as Spain won, 84-82. So while it took more than a decade to reach the senior team after his nice run at the U20 European Championship with Spain, a team that also had national team stalwart Sergio Llull, Beiran finally got his chance with the senior side and made the most of it.

"It was worth it," Beiran said to El Mundo. "There is a little bit of poetic justice in that (first) 3-pointer. I had in my mind the other times when I hadn't been able to be there. I hope I have a lot more games." 

Beiran isn't the first Spain player whose father also suited up for the national team.

Pepe Laso and his son, Pablo (current coach of Real Madrid), and Josep Maria Jofresa and his sons Rafael and Tomas, all played for Spain. So did Jose Maria Soler and his son, Jordi.

Beiran was thrilled to have done as his father once did, "although he still has an advantage because he has a medal and has played at the Olympics. I hope I can get close to that."

Beiran had been a contender for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games team but did not make coach Sergio Scariolo's final cut. He took the decision in his stride.

"It was a big disappointment but I realized that I had to work a lot more and make it more difficult for the national team coach," he said.

I know the coach will have to take the best but I hope that some of us (from the first two windows) will be able to sneak into the team for the World Cup.Beiran

Beiran tore his ACL last season and had to miss the majority of Iberostar Tenerife's run to the Basketball Champions League title. Despite that setback, Scariolo remained high on him and invited the forward to the FIBA EuroBasket 2017 training camp. Beiran politely declined.

"It hurt because I was close to going to the national team but I thought more about the future and I knew that coming here, I had to be 100 percent," he said. "I knew my opportunity would come and I know that I'm going to have more."

When it comes to the injuries that he has had to endure, Beiran has bought into the old adage "If it doesn't kill you, it makes you stronger."

Beiran's Spain prospects have improved with Iberostar Tenerife

"I have a physical and mental scar that have made me stronger," he said. "I wish it hadn't happened and hope that it doesn't happen again.

"I think it's been good. I'm going to be a better player the years that I have left to play."

But what about the competition for places in the Spain team? More players will be available for the next two windows and if Spain, as expected, clinch a spot at the World Cup, Scariolo is going to have a selection headache.

"I know the coach will have to take the best but I hope that some of us (from the first two windows) will be able to sneak into the team for the World Cup. That is one of my aims, to continue to add in these windows and make it difficult."

Beiran also played in the home win over Zaragoza before a reported 10,000 fans and helped Spain win, 79-67, to clinch a fourth straight win and a spot in the Second Round of the World Cup European Qualifiers.

FIBA