The Spanish men’s basketball team will reportedly be without key man Marc Gasol at the Olympics this summer.
Gasol, a two-time All-Star and the 2013 NBA Defensive Player of the Year, struggled with a foot injury last season and was limited to 52 games for the Memphis Grizzlies in the 2015-16 campaign.
Reports in Spain have now claimed that despite being included in the preliminary Olympic squad, the star center will not be travelling to Rio.
The loss of the 31-year-old Memphis talisman will come as a huge blow to Spain, who lost the gold medal match against the USA in both Beijing in 2008 and London four years later.
The 2015 Eurobasket winners are the most likely side to cause an upset and deny the USA another gold medal in the Olympics next month and Gasol’s absence will be keenly felt.
France perhaps shouldn’t be discounted and host nation Brazil may also be in with a chance on home soil, but the Spain squad is probably the strongest on paper aside from a star-studded USA roster.
The Grizzlies star’s older brother Pau Gasol, who left Chicago Bulls for San Antonio Spurs at the end of the last campaign, will be involved, as will fellow NBA players Jose Manuel Calderon (New York Knicks), Ricky Rubio (Minnesota Timberwolves) and Nikola Mirotic (Bulls).
Gasol’s Grizzlies are 67.00 to win the NBA Championship next season, San Antonio are 8.50 and Cleveland Cavaliers are 4.50 to secure back-to-back titles after seeing off Golden State Warriors in the Finals Series last season.
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