The Cavs Say No to the Olympics
The Cleveland Cavaliers won’t let Zydrunas Ilgauskas play for Lithuania in the Olympics this summer, despite the fact that he wants to. Very badly. From the Cleveland Plain-Dealer:
Zydrunas Ilgauskas will not be permitted to play for Lithuania in the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, the Cavaliers announced Thursday.
Although the veteran center had made it clear he wanted to compete in the Olympics for the first — and likely only — time in his career, the Cavs think it is just too much of a risk.
“Zydrunas is an important member of our team and has generally been a higher-risk player due to his injury history,” Cavs general manager Danny Ferry said Thursday night.“We declined consent for Zydrunas to play in the Olympics when he approached us several weeks ago, and in light of the inability to insure Zydrunas adequately, we continue to deny consent and will not permit Zydrunas to play in the 2008 Olympics as a member of the Lithuanian National Team.”
While I understand where the Cavs are coming from, when it comes to representing your country, it changes the game a bit. I’m sure the Cavs point to the Jorge Garbajosa situation from last summer as a reason why they don’t want Ilgauskas to play, but it makes it tougher to justify to Z when LeBron will basically be the face of Team USA. Obviously it’s a different situation but we understand Ilgauskas’ frustration.
Is it right for NBA teams to keep their players out of the Olympics?
June 13th, 2008 at 11:31 am
Big V says:
If LeBron is allowed to play for his country, Z should be able to play for his.
June 13th, 2008 at 11:45 am
yallallreadyknow says:
favoritism?
if its not a risky factor for lebron, then let z rep is country.
didnt mop head play for brazil last yr?
i have yet to meet any basketball fan who doesn’t like big z in some way…
…let him play dammit
June 13th, 2008 at 11:45 am
the_don_mega says:
playing for one’s country is like winning a ‘chip!!! if Z wants to go, the let him… Bron’s goin’ anyway. at least give the guy his due for stickin’ with the team for all those bad seasons he endured as well.
June 13th, 2008 at 11:47 am
Junio says:
I’m from Brazil and I want to share a point of view Americans doesn’t have. In soccer-based countries, the ultimate recognition comes when a player is called-up to his National Team. He plays in the club level, just to earn a place in the team that represents your country.
In the way the American sports are structured, the ultimate prizes are the Super Bowl, the celebrity-filled All Star Game, and the declaration of a World Champion of a league that plays teams for a only country.
I’m not criticizing, just analyzing the facts. Because of the superiority of the american teams in basketball, international competitions never thrilled a player to defend his country. Until the USA Basketball started to collect the losses….
Ilgauskas is from Lithuania, a basketball country, and is an European country which shares the tradition of the best players be reunited to defend his country. The Olympic games should be the coronation of a athlete. A month were the best of the world on every sport got together to just see whos better. For sure, he is dying to go there…and for his sake, who the Cavs are willing to risk an injury? Zy or Lebron….sounds incoherent….
Brazil has 5 titles in the soccer World Cup….But never has won a gold medal in the Olympics….here, in basketball the prime objective is just to qualify…but Barbosa, Nenê and Varejão will not play in the qualifying…..well, they are making their lives over there, making more money than they would’ve ever make…but unless they wear the golden jersey of Brasil, they will never be icons here. Like Oscar Schmidt was. Great players…but never icons. Zy knows what he has to do to place his name in history of Lithuanian basketball….and he should be allowed to do.
June 13th, 2008 at 11:55 am
Blue says:
z is a big boy, i’m sure he knows that the cavs sign his paycheck. i’m sure he’ll take it easy.
it does suck that they let lebron go, no questions asked, but big z can’t. i understand, but it’s not right.
June 13th, 2008 at 12:01 pm
Jim says:
That sucks for him. I understand with his (now receding) history of injuries, but this is has to be top 2-3 on the list of dreams for most ballers, I hope he can negotiate his way into it somehow.
Junio I have lived oversees and follow international sports, so I know what you are saying, but I don’t think you can discount the importance of the Olympics to Americans. I’m not saying Intl. competition is not much bigger everywhere else, it is. But those of us who were coming up in 1992 most likely remember that as the biggest sporting event of our time. A US BBall Gold Medal would mean a great deal to most real fans, and I think you would really see the media and people get crazy over a US soccer team advancing past the 2nd round of the WC Finals…if it weren’t on at 2 AM…thank heavens I was in college at the time.
June 13th, 2008 at 12:09 pm
Big V says:
Junio,
You need to understand that the NBA is the HIGHEST level of basketball being played anywhere in the world. Naturally, players feel that winning on the most competitive stage is the greatest accomplishment that a basketball player can achieve. Olympics are great, but if you can look past the nationalism for a second you’ll realize that the Olympics is not where the best ball in the world is played. So before you talk about “the declaration of a World Champion of a league that plays teams for a only country” you should probably realize that your boys in the “gold jerseys” and any other international team in the world would get SMOKED by the Lakers or the Celtics.
June 13th, 2008 at 12:21 pm
Stiletto says:
u wish have u seen the line ups of the u.s. teams that lost the last 4 big events they were even better than a all star team but still they didn’t get it
June 13th, 2008 at 12:31 pm
daquest?on says:
im with junio, where i come from its an honor to play for your national team. Its bigger than winning any award or championship in any league… i love basketball and the NBA but id rather play for my national team than play in the NBA and win a championship. It is extremely unfair and classless that the cavs wont let Big Z play for his country especially since he has never played and this might be his last chance to play. Oh and by the way my team was the one who beat the U.S in the olympics, the first game of the olympics by 19 points blowww outt
June 13th, 2008 at 12:33 pm
daquest?on says:
@ Big V u are wrong about any international team would get smoked by the lakers and celtics… any team ranked from 1 to 13 in the world would beat those two
June 13th, 2008 at 12:34 pm
Rico says:
If you’re gonna so no to Z you have to say no to Lebron. This shows a lack of quality leadership within the Cavs organization, no wonder they can’t get a good supporting cast for Lebron. This reminds me of when Ben Wallace went to the bulls and was able to wear a sweatband when there was a team rule against it. Enough letting the “Stars” control the leage, let’s take the game back dammit!
June 13th, 2008 at 12:38 pm
Diego says:
Cavs: Let Z play for his country in the Olympics!
June 13th, 2008 at 12:38 pm
Celts Fan says:
exactly Rico.
Forget all of that, there should be a provision that if you’re good enough to play for your country’s national team, then you can play. This is completely unfair to Big Z (ESPECIALLY SINCE HTEY’RE LETTING ‘BRON PLAY FOR US.)
Anyone think they’d say no if he was the USA’s starting center and not a foreign country?
June 13th, 2008 at 12:55 pm
sxrs says:
to Big V
give me a break, winning the nba championship should not be called winning the world championship. If you wanna call it that way, fine, but then you have to at least compete against international competition, and not just say, we’re far superiour than the rest of the world. Thats just pure arrogance, and (recent) history is NOT on your side.
Y’all act as if the olympics and world championship are worthless unless you win it yourselves. And to say Boston or LA would DESTROY teams like Argentina is bullshit. How come a team consisting of Howard, James, Anthony … etc cant? And don’t bring the ‘they dont play as a team’ bs. How much of a team did LA look like yesterday, and they are playing in the finals arent they?
June 13th, 2008 at 1:14 pm
Big V says:
Sxrs and Daquestion,
The reason we lose in international play is because
a) It’s after a grueling regular season/playoffs
b) The teams have virtually no time to practice/gel together as a unit
c) The other international teams have played together for much longer periods of time
I’m not knocking international competition at all, but I have a problem with people using the Olympics as a real gauge of the USA’s basketball talent. And I HIGHLY doubt any team ranked 1-13 would be able to beat the Lakers/Celtics, not to mention the Spurs and a couple of other teams that aren’t playing in the finals right now. Don’t use yesterday’s game as a gauge for the Lakers, they were looking pretty damn good as a team against the Spurs, weren’t they?
June 13th, 2008 at 1:15 pm
Big V says:
And by the way, I never said that winning an NBA title should be called “winning the World Championship”. I just said that I feel that the highest accolade is winning in the most competitive arena, which I consider to be the NBA.
June 13th, 2008 at 1:16 pm
Len Bias says:
Z has a history of injury problems
June 13th, 2008 at 1:21 pm
mules says:
Professional basketball is a business and each player’s contract as an investment made by the Cavs. Dealing with investments, decisions are made based on risk/reward balance.
Z: 33 years old, has missed roughly 4 season’s worth of games since being drafted.
Letting Big Z play would be a tremendous risk (as demonstrated by his past injuries, he’s not a quick healer…especially at 33 years old). On top of that, from the Cavs point of view, there’s very little reward associated with letting him play. Big Z leading Lithuania to gold won’t necessarily endear him to American basketball fans and won’t result in measurably greater ticket sales…maybe a few more jerseys sold.
Lebron: 23 years old, has missed 19 games since being drafted.
On the other hand, the risk/reward balance for allowing Lebron to play almost forces their hand into letting him play. He’s proven to be a very durable player and, at 23, it would take a very serious injury to cause him to miss significant time for the 09-10 season. Also, the backlash from American basketball fans (who the Cavs make most of the money from) would be tremendous is they forbid Lebron to play. The possibility of Lebron leading the US squad to gold could also be a considerable ticket draw for the next couple seasons.
It may not seem fair to let on guy play and not the other, but when millions of dollars in contracts are on the line fairness takes a backseat to “what’s in it for me”.
June 13th, 2008 at 1:21 pm
fallinup says:
Lebron could just as well tear his ACL playing in the Olympics as well as anyone else. That’s one hell of a double standard and if I were Z…I’d just play.
There’s no better feeling out there, especially in Lithuania than repping your national squad in the Olympics…this is Lithuania, and they love round ball over there.
What could Ferry do if he just played??? Suspend him from playing for the Cavs??? Kinda defeats the purpose of telling not to play if you ask me…
Fight the power Big Z….go rep your country.
June 13th, 2008 at 1:26 pm
fiyaman says:
If I was Z and they didnt let me play but let Bron play I would tank the whole regular season (injuries, leave of absence, or just plain suck) i dont care i would tank and wouldnt care who knows…
June 13th, 2008 at 1:29 pm
fallinup says:
exactly flyaman…who’s to say that he won’t inspite of Ferry.
June 13th, 2008 at 1:51 pm
Junio says:
@ Big V
Brazil would probably get smoked by the Hawks….
I love the NBA, and it really is the highest level of Basketball. Winning in the NBA is extremely important, and should be for any athlete to play the game.
But, win as a country, to me, have a bigger proposal. It doesn’t matter if your teams have the best GM, the biggest bugdet, if you were the luckiest in the draft. It matters to play side by side with guys that came from the same place and shares the culture and traditions….
And, about the World Champions…I think it’s pretty funny….funnier in the NFL, the World Football Champions…The Giants were called champions of the football world for 250 million people in US. Italy, were called champions of the football world for the remaining 6 billion people.
June 13th, 2008 at 2:06 pm
GEE...The 900 number! says:
Shiiiiii the Rockets need to keep Yao and his fragile arse out as well.
June 13th, 2008 at 2:08 pm
mules says:
to fallinup: To say that Lebron could just as easily tear his ACL as Z is rediculous and naive. Ever notice how certain players seem to miss games on the regular due to injury (T-Mac, Arenas, Jermain O’Neal)? It has a lot more to do with their particular physiology and their injury history than it does with simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time. For instance, a guy with a history of ankle sprains is more likely to re-injure their ankle. The ligaments are not elastic and the joint will never be as stable as it was before the injury. Also, body mechanics quite often have a lot to do with how the injury occured in the first place (Big Z runs flat footed, hence foot problems) and, barring correction of the mechanics, this further pre-disposes the player to re-injury. Also, don’t forget Big-Z is 10 years older than Lebron. The body doesn’t recover at 33 like it does at 23…I know way to much about this one.
All that being said, imagine you’re Portland’s GM and Oden wants to play in the Olympics (assuming team USA wants him). Do you let him play?
June 13th, 2008 at 2:15 pm
fallinup says:
An injury can happen at any given time. Lebron could wake up one day, fall down the damn stairs and blow a hip or something. To say that Lebron is indestructible is ridiculous and naive. And it makes no difference what your body make up is…you could jump and land on someone’s foot, turn and ankle and be out for a season…there are always possibilities.
June 13th, 2008 at 2:17 pm
mules says:
I’m not saying there’s NO risk but
Big Z: risk = great, reward = minimal
Lebron: risk = minimal, reward = great
June 13th, 2008 at 2:19 pm
mules says:
you’re right…they shouldn’t let Lebron walk down stairs…he’s a hazard to himself and those around him.
June 13th, 2008 at 2:23 pm
fallinup says:
The reward for Z is whats so important to him. And that’s what Ferry should have in mind no matter how much he doesn’t want Z to play. Z could just as easily tank the season in spite of Ferry just the same…should Ferry take that kind of risk?
National pride is some times greater than an NBA contract. (I say more so with foreign players) And in this case, forcing Z to ignore his pride seems to be a greater risk than letting him play.
June 13th, 2008 at 2:25 pm
Jim says:
I think one obvious thing here is that Cavs could not have said no to LBJ. Not because of marketing, whatever, they don’t care. They just can’t afford to piss him off at this point and are going to do whatever he wants.
June 13th, 2008 at 2:27 pm
fallinup says:
“you’re right…they shouldn’t let Lebron walk down stairs…he’s a hazard to himself and those around him.”
So your saying with that sarcastic statement that you do thing lebron is indestructible?
June 13th, 2008 at 2:31 pm
len-e says:
i’m coming to the conclusion that the cavs organisation plain sucks.
f that bull, let zy do his thing
Junio got the point across perfectly
June 13th, 2008 at 2:33 pm
len-e says:
ps: if i was the lithuanian grandpa, i’d pull a vlad-rad and do some snowboarding! yeeha
June 13th, 2008 at 2:34 pm
Prof. TX says:
The NBA champs are the World Champions, of AMERICAN basketball. The olympic champions are the best at international basketball. They might look similar, but the games are very different in important ways. Time outs, game length, foul calls, shooting distances, legal defenses, court dimensions, and goal tending are just part of the huge differences that matter alot more than a casual observer would know.
Foreign players have had their whole lives to learn those weird rules, American players have been learning another game their whole life. You can’t say that a gold medal swimmer isn’t a good athlete because he’s terrible at football, it’s just not his game.
Bring that soft European game to an olympics played by NBA rules and you’ll see some dream-team level crushings again.
June 13th, 2008 at 2:36 pm
mules says:
It’s nice that it would be rewarding for Z and all, but that’s of zero concern to the Cavs organization. His health and the $11.5 million they’ll be paying him next year are their concerns. It’s just business and not letting him play is clearly the better business decision.
Besides, Big Z is NOT going to tank the 09-10 season to spite Ferry. That would be professional suicide and against every instinctually competitive bone in his body. Ferry may be asking him to ignore his national pride but, by purposefully tanking a season, he’d be sacrificing his own personal pride…something most professional athletes have quite a bit of.
June 13th, 2008 at 2:38 pm
fallinup says:
With the allowing of zone defenses and touch fouls being called more…the NBA has been kinda moving in the FIBA direction. Sadly.
June 13th, 2008 at 2:39 pm
dh says:
(chanting)
“LET HIM PLAY! “LET HIM PLAY! “LET HIM PLAY!…”
June 13th, 2008 at 2:42 pm
fallinup says:
Z’s 33 years old, mules. You think he gives a damn about what the Cavs think compared to the country where he was born and raised? Ask Verajo about personal pride…and then see how he didn’t show for his team for the first part of the season because of something as piddly as a contract dispute. Most of these foreign guys are nothing compared to the likes of Lebron in America…but in their home country, they are considered national heros.
June 13th, 2008 at 2:45 pm
mules says:
I have never said, nor am I saying now that Lebron is indestructible…the whole “has missed 19 games since being drafted” would seem to refute that.
What I am saying is that Lebron is less susceptible to injury than Z and that, given each player were injured in the same fashion, he would recover quicker than Z.
June 13th, 2008 at 2:50 pm
fallinup says:
But the possibility of an injury is always there…that’s my point, mules. And I just don’t think denying someone the right to rep their home country in the Olympics because of risk of injury/recovery, whatever is hogwash.
June 13th, 2008 at 2:51 pm
fallinup says:
my bad..i dont think its right.
June 13th, 2008 at 3:05 pm
Kalan F. says:
If NBA Players want to play for their country, they should play, plain and simple.
June 13th, 2008 at 3:05 pm
mules says:
This is exactly why the Chinese national teams is so involved in contract negotiations for their players in the NBA. If it wasn’t spelled out in his contract there’s a good chance the Rockets don’t let Yao play.
June 13th, 2008 at 3:13 pm
chrisGO says:
Z should just call up lebron and ask him to talk to Ferry…as someone mentioned earlier, the Cavs dont want to upset ‘bron
June 13th, 2008 at 3:55 pm
Big V says:
Junio,
All I’m getting at is that I think that the NBA is the most competitive basketball league in the world, period. The highest caliber of player and the best basketball in the world is played in the NBA and I think we’re all in agreement on that. That said, the NBA obviously doesn’t have the level of nationalism and camaraderie that you’re talking about, things that you can only find when you’re talking about country vs. country. I completely understand your point.
June 13th, 2008 at 3:56 pm
weng santos says:
Before Z is a Cav, he’s Lithuanian first.
Stripped of everything else, all you’re left with is where you came from.
Let him play.
June 13th, 2008 at 4:40 pm
karizmatic says:
No. If a player wants to play for his country the team should let him play. Period. We let Americans put together the best American team possible, why should it be different for other countries?
June 13th, 2008 at 4:53 pm
Marcus says:
Gotta wonder if this could hurt the shot of any international players signing with the Cavs in the future.
June 13th, 2008 at 8:12 pm
daquest?on says:
i bet anything that team puert rico or any international team ranked 1 through 11 could beat any team in the nba
June 13th, 2008 at 9:21 pm
yoda says:
first, nba champion is world champion at club stage, not national stage. in football, or how you americans calls it, soccer, there is two kinds of world champions, one that is won by national team, and one that is won by best teams from europe, both americas, asia, africa i think…
as for z.. i do understand cavs point of view, but if they are letting ‘bron play, they should let z play too. i mean, its patriotic for american to play for usa, but if you are outside usa, you are not allowed to be patriot to your own country? double standards sucks big time
June 14th, 2008 at 4:04 am
Austin Burton says:
Playing devil’s advocate: Lithuania is one of the better teams in the world. They’ve won bronze at the last two Olympics, I believe, and I think they medaled at a recent World Championship. By not allowing Ilgauskas — who is arguably the best Lithuanian player in the world today — the chance to play for his country in the Olympics, is Danny Ferry or the Cavs’ owner or whoever made this decision perhaps showing their own national pride, doing what they can to hurt Lithuania’s chances of beating Team USA? Just something to consider…
June 15th, 2008 at 6:45 am
Cammy Z says:
Let the man play. Honestly, so let’s say he’s a little more tired at the start of next season, or even if he gets injured, it’s not like he makes or breaks the Cavs’ championship hopes. If they don’t get another player or two they MIGHT make another deep playoff run, but probably not more than that.
June 15th, 2008 at 8:00 pm
doc says:
They dicking Big Z around.He aint been hurt since Bron got there.And daquest The Rican team can NOT beat any team in the league.Arroyo cant even get the fuck in for Orlando and he they star.
June 15th, 2008 at 9:45 pm
daquest?on says:
@ doc that might be true about arroyo and the magic but in the last tournaments arroyo has been one of the leading scorers and assits guys last time i checked the pr team beat the us team in the last olympics.
June 15th, 2008 at 9:48 pm
daquest?on says:
the best teams in our part of the world are us, argentina, and PR
June 16th, 2008 at 10:47 am
Big V says:
Daquestion,
PR beating the US team is NOT the same as PR beating the Spurs, for example.
July 17th, 2008 at 1:05 pm
TK says:
I’ve been to Kaunas (Z’s hometown as well as that of my father). You walk around on Saturday afternoon and kids are playing pick up games everywhere. Every park and every house has a hoop and when you turn on the TV, non-stop NBA games with Lithuanian voice overs. The country is hoop crazy and they do pretty damn well for a country of 4M people or so. The Cavs ought to let him play – some things are bigger than the business of basketball. Yao is playing for China, Dirk’s suiting up for Germany and Lebron will wear the stars and stripes (and probably a Yankees ball cap). Let Z represent his country. Make it that much sweeter when USA wins the gold.
June 8th, 2009 at 7:43 pm
collin says:
well…..z plays ball in the u.s.he gets payed in the u.s thats were he got his shot and this is where he gets the big money…why would the cavs let z go and play against us?that makes no sence..all teams should do it