A disheartened Sullivan Phillips admits he felt robbed of a once in a lifetime opportunity after being told he was ineligible for Great Britain’s Olympic basketball team.The withdrawal of the uncapped Phillips has left Great Britain officials red-faced after it was discovered he couldn’t be called up, having played a senior game for the Bermuda national team.Phillips was hoping to win a spot in the Great Britain squad after being named in their provisional 21-man squad last month, along with NBA stars Luol Deng (Chicago Bulls), Ben Gordon (Detroit Pistons) and Byron Mullens (Charlotte Bobcats).He was due to head to Houston Rockets’ training base later this week where the roster will be cut to 12 players.“Truth is it sucks, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity and it won’t happen, so the reality of it all sucks,” said Phillips. “It affects you only a much as you allow it, and for the first couple of days I was extremely pissed off, felt robbed, was down and didn’t want to believe I wouldn’t have the opportunity.“Presently I’m just understanding that it wasn’t meant to be and when one door closes another opens, but I’m still working out hard and I’ll have a few vacations with the family to fill in for the Olympics.”While it was a bitter pill to swallow, the veteran has tried to take the disappointment in his stride.“My take on the whole situation is that I’m not going to the Olympics and that’s tough to swallow, believe me it’s extremely tough,” he said.“However, someone didn’t wake up today, someone may not eat today, so things could be worse. I’ll just remain positive and be grateful for all the good things God has given to me, as opposed to pout over an opportunity lost.”British Basketball’s performance director Chris Spice said of the recent discovery: “After submitting the paperwork to FIBA, we found out (Phillips) played in a senior game for Bermuda.”Phillips recently won the Slovakian Men’s National Basketball League Championships with his team BC Prievidza.Great Britain will be forced to call up more reinforcements to their squad having also lost the services of San Antonio Spurs’ Ryan Richards.Richards stunned GB officials this weekend after declaring his intention to turn out for Jamaica instead at the Olympics.However, his intended switch has come under scrutiny by the world governing body.The Kent-born forward, who won seven senior caps last year, is understood to have informed British Basketball officials of his decision by e-mail.