Garbajosa blames Timberwolves president of operations for Juancho missing the Olympics / News - Basketnews.com

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Jorge Garbajosa

Position:PF, SFAge:43Height:206 cmWeight:111 kgBirth place:Madrid, SpainProfileNewsStatistics

Juancho Hernangomez's absence from the Olympic Games has shaken the Spanish national team 48 hours before the premiere of the basketball tournament in Tokyo. The president of the Spanish Basketball Federation Jorge Garbajosa has appeared before the media to explain the reasons for the Minnesota Timberwolves player being ruled out."Juancho Hernangómez has not been included at the very last minute in the list. He will be replaced by Xabi Lopez-Arostegui. That's the fact", the former NT power forward said."It's not a strictly sporting issue. On July 23, 48 hours ago, for the first time, we received a notification from the Timberwolves not giving permission for Juancho to play in the Olympics. As you understand, if the player is in Tokyo it is because we had never received a NO. Quite the opposite. In the last hours, we have tried as federation, myself and his agent, leaving aside the surprise and indignation, to solve all this in time. There was very little time to appeal to anger and we have tried to the best of our ability. We spent two sleepless nights trying to find a decision that would leave both teams satisfied."Garbajosa went on and didn't mince his words, referring to the man he considers responsible for Juancho missing out on the Olympic dream: "I want to emphasize that the player has been at the center of everything. His health, his career, his participation ... from minute 1 we have acted with total transparency in everything we did. Juancho wants to play but he won't be able to participate in the Olympics. We've had countless medical meetings and we've never received a "no". We received a "yes." We have no problem with the Minnesota Timberwolves or the NBA. It is a problem of people who have decided personally, not medical staff, that Juancho could not play. I'm talking about their president of operations (Gersson Rosas)".Furthermore, he explained that "in our 5 days in Las Vegas, no doctor traveled to see the player. There was only an online meeting with a physiotherapist (Erin Sierer) who asked for tests to be carried out and ended up congratulating Juancho on his recovery. 4 hours before the game against the United States there was a meeting between the doctors of the national team and the doctors of the Timberwolves who congratulated Juancho Hernangómez and the national team on the recovery. The answer about whether Juancho could play was a "yes" and we were told that the next review would be after the Olympics. From that moment on until Minnesota told us that he won't be playing, there is a series of facts that make it clear that the decision is not medical. Even the Timberwolves coach congratulated Juancho on being in Tokyo. No one doubted he could play."Touching on his personal feelings about the outcome of this case, the president of the Spanish Federation revealed that he's feeling "very tired. It's impossible when someone says "no". I feel very disappointed and very sad. I think that the timing in which we were notified about the developments has not been honest. We had express permission and there's been a change of heart. I understand that in order for the doctors to change their minds, they would have to examine the player, something that has not happened. It's surreal.""Minnesota gives as a reason that their doctors have never given the green light. There were 6 people from the national team at that meeting who testify that they clearly said "yes". In the 21st century, with 6 people who speak perfect English, it is incomprehensible to give that reason. If they hadn't said yes, Sergio Scariolo would never have thanked the Timberwolves for everything that happened the next day. If they hadn't said yes, the player would never have traveled to Tokyo."In terms of Lopez-Arrostegui and his level of readiness ahead of the Games, Garbajoda pointed out that "on July 23 we put Xabi in Olympic Games mode. On that day, he passed his first PCRs so that he can travel as soon as possible. It has been communicated to the Olympic Committee and only the name change has still to be approved. We have booked plane tickets for him to travel as soon as possible."

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