Larry Krystowiak, who is coaching China’s Yi Jianlian with the dreadful Bucks for this season and only this season, had some very interesting thoughts on the risks to NBA teams whose star players compete in the Olympics. Yi’s countryman, Yao Ming, is out for the season after suffering a stress fracture in his foot. You don’t have to be an orthopedic surgeon to know that it could be linked to his participation in international competition in addition to the NBA schedule.
“It’s a real concern for teams and everybody involved because really this is the first generation of professional basketball players being involved with the Olympics,” Krystkowiak told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “We want to send the best players. But the down side of that is if you play 100 games in the NBA, and then you have a month off and then you starting training for the Olympics, you’re going to see some stress fractures. That’s normal. So it’s a big risk.”
And what about the Bucks’ owner, Sen. Herb Kohl?
“If I’m Sen. Kohl, I should have the right to say, ‘Hey, we don’t want you to play [with your national team],’” Krystkowiak said. “It’s a fair request when you’ve got that much tied up into one of your assets to try and protect him. But I don’t know, it’s kind of a new territory.”
When Yao’s stress fracture was discovered, the reaction in Houston paled in comparison to the international outrage they he might miss the Olympics. Yao now says he expects to be ready for Beijing.
UPDATE: Now comes word that Yi flew to Los Angeles Friday to have his sore right wrist examined by three doctors. Pretty soon, the Chinese national team is going to be in sorrier shape than the Bucks.