Milwaukee Bucks: What impact will Olympics postponement have?
By Adam McGee
With news that the Olympic Games have been postponed until 2021, the hopes of playing in Tokyo for multiple Milwaukee Bucks players could yet be impacted.
As the coronavirus crisis continues to disrupt normal life around the world, its impact on the sporting world shows no signs of slowing down either.
In news that wasn’t surprising outside of how long it took to be announced, the upcoming Olympic Games in Tokyo became the latest event to be postponed when official confirmation from the International Olympic Committee was delivered on Tuesday.
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The news will have dramatic consequences for thousands of athletes from around the world, but that extends to NBA players, and even more specifically to the Milwaukee Bucks.
Although qualification was yet to be assured for many countries, as many as five Bucks could have fostered realistic hopes and ambitions of becoming Olympians in Tokyo later this year.
That group would have comprised of the same five players who represented their national teams at last year’s FIBA World Cup, with Giannis Antetokounmpo and Thanasis Antetokounmpo in line to play for Greece, Ersan Ilyasova for Turkey, and Brook Lopez and Khris Middleton for the USA.
In the case of Middleton and Lopez, that duo had already been selected among Team USA’s 44 finalists for Olympic roster spots, and were originally scheduled to join up with Gregg Popovich and his coaching staff for a training camp on July 4.
The Olympic picture is now much more uncertain for NBA players for a variety of reasons, though.
First and foremost, the delay could lead to a change in the pool of players deemed as deserving of selection. Taking Middleton and Lopez as examples, where the former has been having an outstanding season and the latter has had his share of struggles, that could be entirely flipped on its head by the time the games go ahead.
Additionally, players who weren’t expected to be available due to injury could now end up factoring into the equation, while others who are currently healthy could yet end up sidelined.
Even more complicated, though, is the possibility of the NBA schedule ultimately clashing with the Olympics.
With no clarity as of yet to when, or if, the current campaign could resume, it’s entirely possible that next season may end up beginning on a different schedule to what NBA players and fans have long been accustomed to.
That consideration means it’s not out of the question that the Olympic basketball could yet end up taking place without NBA players’ involvement.
Next. Donte DiVincenzo’s untapped potential is limitless. dark
Consider this as just the latest layer of uncertainty to be added to the complicated questions of what comes next for basketball, but it could be an issue that ends up stealing an Olympic dream away from a number of Milwaukee’s players.