Chris Kamen included in German basketball squad

Chris Kamen (Photo credit: CFP)Photo Gallery>>(BEIJING, July 4) -- NBA star Chris Kamen will play for Germany at the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament for men, which will take place from July 14-20 in Athens, Greece.

The event is the last of a series of qualifying events and three places for the forthcoming Olympic Games in Beijing will be up for grabs.

According to the German Basketball Federation, the 2.13m tall sensation has already received his German passport and will soon begin training with their national squad.

As a mainstay of Los Angeles Clippers, who clinched the 2007-08 NBA Western Conference title, Kamen averaged 15.7 points, 12.7 rebounds and 2.8 blocks last season.

The commitment of the 26-year-old center is warmly welcomed by the Germany national basketball team.

"Chris has a tremendous quality and has strengthened our team certainly very significantly," national team boss Dirk Bauermann, told the FIBA website.

"We will now in a short time try as well as possible to integrate him into the team so he can give us help in the Olympic qualifiers in Athens."

Kamen will play alongside fellow NBA star Dirk Nowitzki, backbone of the Dallas Mavericks, and Patrick Femerling, hero of the 2005 European Championships.

The addition of Kamen will add edge to the German basketball team, which hasn't reached the last three Olympic Games and has recently been hit by the withdrawals of veteran players like Mithat Demirel and Jo Herber through injury.

However, Germany is favored to finish top of Group B, ahead of New Zealand and Cape Verde at the Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Athens.