Reports: Spain's Marc Gasol to miss Rio Olympics with foot injury (repost)
Spain’s hopes of finally knocking off the United States and tasting gold in men’s basketball at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro took a hit on Tuesday. According to reports from Spanish news outlets ABC and Libertad, NBA All-Star Marc Gasol of the Memphis Grizzlies won’t suit up for La Roja in Brazil as he continues to work his way back to full health after suffering a broken bone in his right foot back in February that prematurely ended his club season.
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After Gasol went under the knife in late February, he hoped he’d be healthy enough to take the floor for his country in Rio. The four-to-six-month recovery timetable forwarded by the Grizzlies suggested that, if all went well, he might be good to go by early July; as such, hopeful Spain head coach Sergio Scariolo last month chose to keep Gasol on the team’s preliminary roster. According to ABC, though, after two weeks of working out in hopes of being in top condition and full fitness, the 31-year-old center has decided to hold himself out to avoid aggravating the injury, to increase the likelihood that he’s ready to go when Memphis opens training camp in the fall, and to ensure that a fully healthy and game-ready player could take his place on the Spanish side.
In all likelihood, as suggested by Austin Green of Spanish basketball site Los Crossovers, that player will be 22-year-old Willy Hernangomez, a 6-foot-11, 255-pound center who has spent the last four years playing professionally in Spain’s ACB with Sevilla, where he teamed with rising New York Knicks star Kristaps Porzingis, and Real Madrid, where he played with a number of players with NBA experience, including Rudy Fernandez, Sergio Rodriguez, Gustavo Ayon, Andres Nocioni, Jeffery Taylor and Trey Thompkins.
The Philadelphia 76ers selected Hernangomez with the 35th overall pick in the 2015 NBA draft before trading him to the Knicks in exchange for second-round draft picks in 2020 and 2021. New York signed Hernangomez to a four-year, $5.8 million contract this summer to bring him over to the U.S.; now, Knicks fans (and new teammate/U.S. forward Carmelo Anthony) will likely get a closer look at their new prospect.
Losing Gasol means Spain will be without one of its most decorated, most senior and most productive players. He was Spain’s No. 1 or No. 2 scorer and rebounder at the 2012 Summer Games, the 2013 EuroBasket tournament, and the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup. (He pulled out of EuroBasket 2015 while negotiating a new five-year, maximum-salaried contract with the Grizzlies.) His interior partnership with brother Pau Gasol — on the defensive end, in tearing opponents apart with the high-low passing game, on the glass — has been one of the biggest keys to Spain’s sustained international success over the years, and his ability to serve as a facilitator of offense from the post and the elbows helps create open looks and opportunities for Spain’s host of talented perimeter players, including Fernandez, Rodriguez (who recently signed a one-year deal to join the Philadelphia 76ers), ACB stars Juan Carlos Navarro and Sergio Llull, NBA point guards Ricky Rubio and Jose Calderon, and new Oklahoma City Thunder swingman Alex Abrines.
Gasol’s absence doesn’t necessarily sink Spain, of course. Scariolo’s team won EuroBasket 2015 without Marc, still boasts all that playmaking and scoring talent on the wing, and still has Pau to anchor the interior, joined by Chicago Bulls power forward Nikola Mirotic, captain Felipe Reyes, and former Portland Trail Blazers forward Victor Claver. There’s more than enough talent and experience on hand to make Spain a threat to reach the medal stand for the third straight Summer Games, and the fourth overall.
But after making the gold-medal game in Beijing and London, pushing the U.S. to the wire both times before coming up just short, Spain’s best hope of making the third time a charm and taking down a weakened but still potent Team USA figured to be heading into Rio at full strength. Without Marc Gasol, they won’t be, making the task of finally reaching the top of the mountain all the more daunting.
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Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at devine@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter!
