Luol Deng has claimed that cutting basketball's funding in the UK means the sport is taking a "huge step backward" following the Olympics.
The Chicago Bulls forward wrote a letter to Prime Minister David Cameron earlier this week in an attempt to restore the sport's funding.
Deng believes that basketball in the UK has improved in recent years and insists that the sport has never been better in the country.
"We worked hard to get to the programme where it's at, to be able to play in the Olympics and be able to compete with the teams," the 27-year-old told BBC Sport.
"The game has really developed and to cut the funding would just be taking a huge step backward when I feel like we're taking big steps forward what we've done in the last six years.
"I feel that basketball in the UK is the best it's ever been."
Deng has been a key member of the Chicago team since his arrival in the NBA in 2004.
Callum Mulvihill
