Kristaps Porzingis skips the Paris Olympics (July 26-August 11). Recently crowned NBA champion with the Boston Celtics, the latter was forced to withdraw after choosing to have leg surgery.
Latvia’s star center suffered a “rare” leg injury during Game 2 of the NBA Finals in early June and will need surgery. He suffers from a “tear of the medial retinaculum causing dislocation of the posterior tibial tendon of the left leg”, specifies a press release from the Celtics. Rested for the next two matches, he returned for the fifth match and participated in the victory (106-88) of Boston’s record 18th coronation at the expense of the Dallas Mavericks (4-1).
“The injury does not allow him to play regularly at the level required for Olympic competition. Surgery will be performed in the coming days,” the press release continued.
This is a hard blow for Latvia which will have to do without its leader during the Olympic qualifying tournament (OQT) scheduled for July 2 to 7. The small Baltic country will host two qualifying groups in Riga, the winner of which will join Group B of the Olympic Games with Germany, France and Japan.
2024-06-25 21:45:00
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