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I didn't see this posted, so if it was, please feel free to delete.

Luol Deng will fly in the face of advice from his personal coach and, most likely, his club, the Chicago Bulls, to play for Great Britain in the European Championship finals this summer.

The 6ft 9in forward is at present sidelined with a stress fracture of his right leg that may require minor surgery, the latest in a series of niggling injuries that have plagued Deng since his international debut.


As is common in the NBA, Deng works with a personal coach during the summer, in his case David Thorpe, the respected media pundit. Thorpe echoed the Bulls' concerns about Deng playing in internationals and advised him to take a summer off to recuperate fully.

However, the suggestion was rejected by Deng, who is adamant that he will be in Chris Finch's squad when they play their EuroBasket group games against Spain, Serbia and Slovenia in Poland in September.

“I recommended to him that he take the whole summer off and not even train with me,” Thorpe said. “But Luol told me that was not acceptable. There is no way he is not going to help GB in some capacity. He will maybe not play as many friendlies. He will maybe adjust his schedule after consulting with Coach Finch and coming up with a plan that makes sense for everybody.



More here: www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/more_spo...t/article5913948.ece

The same paper had this to say in an article posted today:

Luol Deng, the Chicago Bulls forward, continues to rehabilitate well from his season-ending stress fracture and does not appear to require surgery.

www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/more_spo...t/article6355206.ece

So, I'm not sure which it is, but if Luol is putting off surgery in order to play for the GB national team, that's pretty damn irresponsible.

If he does decide to play, it just shows that he doesn't care about the Bulls organization, his Bulls teammates, and all the fans of the Chicago Bulls. If that's the kind of message he wants to send to the people in Chicago, then all I can say is good luck to him this summer and break a leg! I wonder if he snaps his leg in half in Europe this summer and the insurance covers his salary, does his salary count on next year's salary cap?

I wonder if he snaps his leg in half in Europe this summer and the insurance covers his salary, does his salary count on next year's salary cap?Yes it does. The only relief the team gets is insurance covers majority of the salary (think the figure is 80%) I believe.

Deng doesn't fall under the group insurance policy. If he gets his own insurance I'm not sure if he's required to get insurance that covers him 100% or just 80% to match the group policy.

Also, there according to here the Bulls can deny him the right to play since he's not covered under the group policy. This article was written last year though, so I'm not sure if them signing off for last year effects this year in any way or if the article is accurate, but the premise seems accurate (why would you assert the thing about the group insurance policy if you didn't know for sure, while asserting the opposite could easily be a mistake due to ignorance).

Deng also said earlier, he wouldn't play for GB if the Bulls asked him not to, and in this text he says he will seek the advice of Bulls doctors as well and was saying to David Thorpe he really wants to play.

Finally, it's worth remembering that Luol basically feels that he owes his life to GB who granted his family political asylum. While I don't want him to play, his desire to play is an example of strong character not poor character. I can't fault him as a person for wanting to do so.

The Bulls also knew full well what they were getting into with him internationally. His "deadline" for his contract was centered around playing basketball for GB. They knew the score about how much he wanted to play prior to signing him. If they have any ability to stop him, then I hope they do so.

i personally only have a problem with deng playing for GB if he puts off surgery/rehab to play, otherwise i doubt he's going to be playing full strength in these tourneys, it could be good practice since he didn't play for the end of the season

I believe it when I see it.

dougthonus wrote:


Finally, it's worth remembering that Luol basically feels that he owes his life to GB who granted his family political asylum. While I don't want him to play, his desire to play is an example of strong character not poor character. I can't fault him as a person for wanting to do so.



The country of GB would benefit more if Deng builds them a hospital and / or school or donate some of that $70 mils to some refugee assistance organizations.

The country of GB would benefit more if Deng builds them a hospital and / or school or donate some of that $70 mils to some refugee assistance organizations.

Deng does a ton of charity work, and British basketball is begging him to play. Whether the country would be better with a hospital or not is irrelevant, they are asking him to play basketball.

dougthonus wrote:

The country of GB would benefit more if Deng builds them a hospital and / or school or donate some of that $70 mils to some refugee assistance organizations.

Deng does a ton of charity work, and British basketball is begging him to play. Whether the country would be better with a hospital or not is irrelevant, they are asking him to play basketball.
Thats fine but doesn't he owe some alligence to the team that has made a huge investment in him and made him richer than he could have been anywhere else? There are many was to benefit GB but only one way to benefit the bulls.

If he isn't 100% healthy he better not play and that's the bottom line. I don't care what his country did for him, playing basketball is not a way to pay them back and if he is making that parallel or someone from England is than that is terrible.

The offseason is important and it sounds like this injury would set him back even if he doesn't play so he needs to take it seriously and surgery/rest/rehab, if he deosn't he needs to go now.

Chances are the Bulls will most likely ask him to not play this summer overseas since there is absolutely nothing good can come out of it from the Bulls standpoint. Even if he manage to not reinjure himself or possibly make the injury worse, he would end up with tired legs from all the extra practices and playing games of the tournament eventhough GB won't get too far considering the competition. He should focus on getting healthy and be ready for the long grind of the upcoming season and at least two or hopefully three rounds of physical playoff games! He should also be prepared mentally and physically take on his share of the scoring burden the Bulls may be left with if Gordon bolts next season. He should be the first man to step up to that challenge considering the ink of that star player's type of contract he just signed is barely dried. What everybody is saying is just be ready to earn your damn money, Luol Deng!

I really hope Deng doesnt play at all.

Hendu0520 wrote:
If he isn't 100% healthy he better not play and that's the bottom line. I don't care what his country did for him, playing basketball is not a way to pay them back and if he is making that parallel or someone from England is than that is terrible.

The offseason is important and it sounds like this injury would set him back even if he doesn't play so he needs to take it seriously and surgery/rest/rehab, if he deosn't he needs to go now.

Why is playing basketball not a way to pay them back? It's critically important for GB's basketball team to have him play. He got them a qualification for the Olympics which they likely wouldn't have had otherwise.

If GB thinks it's important for him to play, and Deng things it's important for him to play, then who are you to say "no it's not really important"?

I think it's critically important that he rest and be healthy for the season, and I don't think that he will play internationally if he deems himself healthy, but if he's healthy, then I think he'll play.

TheStig wrote:
dougthonus wrote:

The country of GB would benefit more if Deng builds them a hospital and / or school or donate some of that $70 mils to some refugee assistance organizations.

Deng does a ton of charity work, and British basketball is begging him to play. Whether the country would be better with a hospital or not is irrelevant, they are asking him to play basketball.
Thats fine but doesn't he owe some alligence to the team that has made a huge investment in him and made him richer than he could have been anywhere else? There are many was to benefit GB but only one way to benefit the bulls.

What he owes the Bulls is pretty clearly stated in his contract. If his contract prohibits him from playing, then he owes them that. If it doesn't, then he does not owe them that.

The bulls walked into this situation with eyes wide open. His negotiation deadline was based around his British basketball commitment, so it's not like the organization wasn't aware of how important this was to him.