New Zealand basketball veteran Pero Cameron is in a race against time to line up for the Tall Blacks at the world championship in Turkey.
Cameron, 36, has been included as one of 21 players to trial for the world championship, which begins on August 28.
A niggling foot injury remains a concern although he hoped work with fitness trainer and newly-appointed Tall Blacks manager Claire Dallison would see him return to the court for the first time since Gold Coast's involvement in the Australian National Basketball ended in February.
"(I'm) just trying to get to the stage where I can train and get around the court," Cameron told The Nelson Mail.
"I want to be a part of it ... you always encounter different hurdles along the way. We'll see if I get there."
Cameron coached Wellington to the National Basketball League title this month but never played for the team this season, despite being signed on as a player/coach.
New Zealand coach Nenad Vucinic, who returned from a coaching role in Turkey on Friday, said he would give highly-skiller big man Cameron every chance of making the squad.
"He's not going to be ready for the trial to go full speed, but ... we want to take the best possible team to give ourselves the best possible chance," Vucinic said.
"He hasn't played for a while, which is a bit of a concern, but we've still got another five weeks to go before the competition.
"He's been going good with Claire with workouts, and he's been doing some shooting practise, but again, we'll know what the real situation is (at the trials)."
The trials start on Friday and the squad will be confirmed on Sunday before leaving for Europe the following day for a series of warmup matches against the likes of Iran, Turkey, Serbia, Slovenia, Russia, Croatia and Jordan.
Meanwhile, Vucinic has re-signed to continue coaching the Darussafaka Istanbul basketball club, which will provide a 10-day base for the Tall Blacks before the world championship.
