Chicago Bulls star Luol Deng excited about the London Olympics - NBA Update
London Olympics are just around the corner and basketball team of the host nation will be by far the strongest ever. Joel Freeland, Pops Mensah-Bonsu and Detroit Pistons guard Ben Gordon will be the part of United Kingdom’s basketball
team and they will all play around the Chicago Bulls forward Luol Deng.
Deng, during the course of the last two years, has established himself as one of the best defensive small forwards in the league and as a testament to that, he was included in All-NBA second defensive team. The Bulls were knocked
out of the first round of the playoffs this post season, but Deng is already looking forward to the Olympics competition;
“I’m looking forward to playing in the Olympics. I’m so excited to take part in this competition; I’ve been dreaming about it since I was a young kid.” Said Deng as reported on FIBA.com.
Deng, a Sudanese native who was brought up in the UK, has been adamant about playing for the GB , despite the fact he still have to decide about the surgery on his wrist, which was injures late in January and has affected his performance
since.
“I still don’t know if I’ll need a surgery. It will depend on how my wrist feels in the next few weeks. But right now, my mind is only focused on the Olympics.”
Deng finished the regular season averaging 15.3 points in 54 games, and in the 6 postseason games he averaged 14 points.
This was Deng’s best season of his seven year career as he was selected to play in the All-Star games;
"Personally, I think that I’ve had a great season and the All-Star Game selection was an accomplishment of years and years of hard work”.
The participation of Deng in the London Olympics is however a big concern for the Bulls. Deng is a vital component of the team and in Rose’s absences during the regular season; he was pretty much the man who carried the team. Given
that Derrick Rose is set to miss the first few months of the next season due to his torn ACL, if Deng aggravates his wrist injury or suffers one other than that, then the franchise will really have their work cut out next season.
Bulls general manager Gar Forman has already raised his concern about this fact in the past, but such is Deng’s desire to take part in Olympics that he is willing to risk his health and career.
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