The Olympic dream has turned this Saturday into a nightmare for Juancho Hernangómez, which finally will not be able to play the Tokyo Games with the Spanish basketball team due to the veto of his team from the NBA, the Minnesota Timberwolves. This unexpected decision caused enormous discomfort in La Familia, as the team calls itself, and also in the president of the Spanish Federation, Jorge Garbajosa, who harshly criticized the Wolves’ change in position. The youngest of the Hernangómez will be replaced by one of the last discards, the forward Xabi López-ArosteguiAlthough the lack of some IOC permits and anticovid precautions may mean that the former Joventut team cannot play in the team’s debut this Monday (2:00 pm) against host Japan.
“On July 23, for the first time, we received a notification from Minnesota Timberwolves not giving your permission. If the player was in Tokyo it is because until then we never received a no for him to play the Olympic Games, rather the opposite, “he explained. Garbajosa through a telematic conference.
Juancho had injured his shoulder (acromioclavicular dislocation) during the friendly against Frold From the past July 8 In Malaga. Since then he had been working to recover in a process in which all decisions were made by mutual agreement with the Timberwolves. “The Minnesota doctors indicate that the evolution is favorable and the question can participate in the Olympic Games? The answer is a clear and express yes ”, said the FEB president.
Everything changed on Friday, the day of the opening ceremony. “The first time they tell you it’s not on the 23rd, and it’s a very resounding no. The problem is that from the 8th to the 23rd we have only had one ‘we move on’ ”, he insisted Garbajosa, which regrets that the selection has been left with a minimum margin of action. “Someone has decided that he should not go and not for medical reasons, I mean his president of operations,” Garbajosa denounced, pointing to Gersson Roses. The Colombian executive of the Wolves would have preferred not to risk a relapse of Juancho, either thinking about the future season or his inclusion in the next few weeks in a transfer.
The least of the Hernangomez received the news as a slap in the face after weeks of hard work in his recovery and after having participated even in the parade of the opening ceremony. “He’s sad, having a difficult time, you’re in Tokyo and ten minutes before the technical meeting you stay out. It is a very hard blow and all we want is that since we have not been able to get him to play, tuck him in and take care of him ”, he added Garbajosa.
It will be necessary to see how the loss of its three starter affects the National Team with little time to adapt to the new situation.