Update: My timing is ridiculously bad. Basketball 24/7, which has been on this story for weeks, just broke the news that Great Britain Basketball ponied up for insurance -- Deng will play!Luol Deng has planned to represent his homeland by anchoring Great Britain's 2012 Olympic basketball team for quite some time. Unfortunately, those plans hit a snag, thanks largely to his brand spanking new $71 million extension. From Brian Hanley of the Chicago Sun-Times (via Blog a Bull):
MetLife, the NBA's insurer which covers the top 150 salaries in the league under a group policy, has the right to exclude 14 high-risk players every year.Because MetLife has excluded Deng, he can't play in a qualifying tournament for the Olympics next summer without additional insurance, and as you'd expect, a policy to insure a $71 million contract isn't exactly cheap. How expensive? Try $500,000 a summer for each of the next three years. All told, that's about half of the national team's entire budget.
Decisions are based on the player's injury history and the amount of money remaining on his contract. Deng came under MetLife scrutiny when he signed a $71 million, six-year contract at the start of this month. It is the fourth-highest contract in the NBA in terms of outstanding money.
MetLife subsequently used an MRI scan taken last November when Deng, 23, injured his back and missed three games to exclude him from the coverage.
Is
Every NBA team has a captain, but I guarantee no one takes the role more seriously than
The Boston Celtics signed
It was bound to happen. When you put players on the floor and have them going full speed, injuries are going to amass, the same as any other sport. When it's players fighting for the pride of their countries, it's even more likely. But man, Bucks fans have to be asking "Yeah, but why did it have to happen to us?"
Oh, Zero. How you manage to always keep our attention. 
Sigh. The trainwreck is narrowly avoided.
There's still plenty of time between now and the start of the season, but
Well, now. And we thought things were going to quiet down here in the NBA stateside with the Olympics. I guess we thought wrong. 