2020 Olympics Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Spencer Dinwiddie To Play For Nigeria In Olympics

April 18th, 2020 at 5:10pm CST by Arthur Hill

Nets guard Spencer Dinwiddie plans to acquire a Nigerian passport and represent the country in the Olympics, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic. Dinwiddie’s decision comes after he was left off the list of 44 finalists for Team USA that was released in February.

Dinwiddie will join several other NBA players on the Nigerian team, which is coached by Warriors assistant Mike Brown. Dinwiddie’s teammates will include Al-Farouq Aminu, Josh Okogie, Chimezie Metu and Ekpe Udoh. Nigeria has already qualified for the Tokyo Olympics as the highest-ranked African team at the 2019 FIBA World Cup.

The addition of Dinwiddie will bring some extra firepower to an already-strong team. He was averaging career highs with 20.6 points and 6.8 assists through 64 games before the NBA season was put on hold.

Brown, who was named as Nigeria’s head coach in February, talked recently to Marc J. Spears of The Athletic about the advantages of having the games postponed until 2021.

“It helps from the standpoint of there are a lot of teams that have been together … the players, especially. A lot of countries have players who have grown up playing together on national teams or All-Star teams,” Brown said. “There are a lot of coaches out there that are in charge of programs that they have been a part of for many years. To have another year to grasp, not only the talent level of the team, but the direction the team needs to go and making sure we are able to put the best Nigerian team out there, it’s a welcomed advantage to have a little bit more time for a new guy like myself.”

International Notes: P. Gasol, Olympics, Italy, EuroLeague

April 9th, 2020 at 2:29pm CST by Luke Adams

Asked if he’ll be able to hang on for an extra year to represent Spain in the rescheduled Tokyo Olympics, veteran NBA big man Pau Gasol told ESPN’s Zach Lowe, “I’m going to try” (video link).

Gasol explained that he has to focus on rehabbing his injured foot before determining whether or not he’ll be able to play, noting that it’s hard to get tests done at the moment due to the closure of facilities.

Lowe also asked Gasol whether he’s considering the idea of finishing his career by playing one last season in Spain, and while the 39-year-old center acknowledged that he has weighed the possibility, he stressed that if he’s able to make a comeback, the NBA would likely still be his first choice.

Here are more odds and ends from around the international basketball world:

The qualifying tournaments for the rescheduled Tokyo Olympics will take place between June 22 and July 4, 2021, FIBA announced in a press release. Serbia, Croatia, Lithuania, and Canada will host those four qualifiers and are among the countries still vying for a spot in the Olympic men’s basketball tournament.
The Lega Basket Serie A, Italy’s top basketball league, officially announced this week that the remainder of its 2019/20 season has been canceled, as Stefan Djordjevic of Eurohoops.net relays. The move had been expected. While Virtus Bologna ranked atop the league with an 18-2 record, no champion will be crowned.
Even as basketball leagues around Europe cancel their seasons, the EuroLeague continue to hold out hope that it will be possible to complete its 2019/20 campaign in some form, as it announced today in a press release.

International Notes: Beaubois, Spain, Nurse, James

April 3rd, 2020 at 7:24pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Anadolu Efes of Turkey and former NBA guard Rodrigue Beaubois have reached a contract extension agreement until 2022, Sportando’s Dario Skerletic relays via Israeli reporter Roi Cohen. Beaubois played four seasons for Dallas from 2009-13. This season, the French guard averaged 11.1 PPG over 43 games.

We have more news from around the basketball world:

Spain’s ACB league has been suspended indefinitely, according to Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia. Play was already suspended until April 24th due to the coronavirus outbreak in the country. The league’s teams will decide how to proceed n the upcoming weeks.
Raptors coach Nick Nurse remains fully committed to coaching Team Canada in Tokyo Olympic qualifiers, Josh Lewenberg of TSN Sports tweets. Nurse is “really excited” about it and hopes the Olympics, rescheduled for next summer, can go forward as planned.
A trio of former NBA players heads the list of the best players in Europe, according to Jeff Greer of The Athletic. A survey of 21 coaches and players overseas choose former Phoenix and New Orleans guard Mike James as the top player in Europe this season in a close votes. Guard Shane Larkin and forward Nikola Mirotic tied for the second-most votes. Maccabi Tel Aviv forward Deni Avdija, a likely top-10 pick in this year’s draft, is considered the top international NBA prospect.

And-Ones: Olympics, Croatia, Rights Fees, Option Decisions

April 1st, 2020 at 8:10pm CST by Arthur Hill

Free agency issues could limit the roster for Team USA at the Olympics next summer, writes Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press. That wouldn’t have been a significant concern this year because of a relatively weak free agent class, but Reynolds notes that LeBron James, Kawhi Leonard, Chris Paul, Bam Adebayo, Kyle Lowry and others could be on the open market in 2021.

The Olympics are set to open on July 23 of next year, meaning that training camp will begin early in the month, which marks prime time for free agency decisions. Reynolds suggests that could lead to situations similar to what happened in 2012 with Deron Williams, who couldn’t participate in contact drills until his deal with the Nets was signed.

The U.S. won’t be the only nation affected, Reynolds adds. Greece’s Giannis Antetokounmpo and France’s Rudy Gobert can both opt out in the summer of 2021, while another year of wear and tear could affect Marc Gasol‘s desire to play for Spain.

There’s more from around the basketball world:

Croatia’s top division has become the latest international league to call off its season, according to Emiliano Carchia of Sportando. No champion will be declared, and the teams that played in the top division this season will be able to do so again next year.
Alex Sherman of CNBC examines how networks are handling the rights fees they paid for games that have been canceled because of the coronavirus. The NBA doesn’t have a provision in its contracts for networks to receive refunds, sources familiar with the deals tell Sherman. While “force majeure” provisions exist, they may not apply to a pandemic. Sherman speculates that even if they can make the argument that they’re entitled to money back, some networks may not pursue it so they can preserve their relationships with the NBA and other leagues. He notes that payments for broadcast rights haven’t been refunded when seasons have been reduced because of labor disputes. “Let’s say it’s a one-time only event, obviously you’re not going to pay,” said former CBS Sports president Neal Pilson. “But what you’re talking when you have a 10- or 15-year agreement, year after year, you work it out in an accommodation of some kind.”
In an article for The Athletic, former NBA executive John Hollinger offers predictions on all 41 player and team options for the upcoming offseason. Among the richest deals, Hollinger expects Mike Conley to stay with the Jazz for $34.5MM, Gordon Hayward to opt in for $34.187MM from the Celtics and Andre Drummond to remain with the Cavaliers for $28.75MM. Hollinger predicts Anthony Davis will turn down $28.55MM from the Lakers and sign a new deal with the team, unless the cap number falls so low that it will benefit him to wait for next year.

New Dates Set For Tokyo Olympics

March 30th, 2020 at 7:51am CST by Arthur Hill

MARCH 30: The International Olympic Committee and the rest of the organizing bodies for the Tokyo Olympics have officially announced that the Games are now scheduled to take place from July 23 to August 8, 2021.

MARCH 29: The International Olympic Committee will set July 23, 2021 as the new target date for the opening of the Summer Olympics in Tokyo, reports Tariq Panja of The New York Times. An emergency IOC meeting will be held today to consider the decision.

A final ruling could come in weeks, according to the IOC, but a source tells Panja that an announcement is expected much sooner. NHK, the Japanese state broadcaster, also reported July 23 as the new target date Saturday.

The games had been set to begin on July 24 of this year, but were postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic. IOC spokesman Mark Adams refused to confirm the new date, calling it “speculation.”

It makes sense to keep a similar schedule, Panja writes, because it’s easier to fit into the sports calendar and it’s the preferred date for NBCUniversal, which is paying more than $1 billion to broadcast the Games. IOC president Thomas Bach told reporters this week that federations representing swimming, table tennis, triathlon and equestrian wanted to move the games to the spring, but that would have interfered with professional soccer seasons and some U.S. sports, including the NBA.

Organizers still face the challenge of securing sites for the rescheduled Games and taking care of facilities that may sit idle for an entire year.

“A Games has never been postponed before,” Bach said. “We have no blueprint, but we are nevertheless confident we can put a beautiful jigsaw puzzle together and will then in the end have a wonderful Olympic Games.”

Keeping the Games in mid-summer will make it easier to attract stars from soccer, tennis and golf, which are among the top television attractions. The availability of basketball players will depend on how this season and next season are restructured in the NBA and other leagues around the world once the pandemic is under control.

International Notes: German, Italian, VTB Leagues; Nigerian Team

March 26th, 2020 at 5:30pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

New Nigerian national basketball team head coach Mike Brown, currently an associate head coach for the Warriors, notes that there is a silver lining to the coronavirus pandemic delaying the Tokyo Olympics for a year, according to The Undefeated’s Marc J. Spears: more time to develop the talent on his club.

“To have another year to grasp, not only the talent level of the team, but the direction the team needs to go and making sure we are able to put the best Nigerian team out there, it’s a welcomed advantage to have a little bit more time for a new guy like myself,” Brown told Spears.

Current NBA players Al-Farouq Aminu, Chimezie Metu and Josh Okogie all suited up for the 2019 Nigerian World Cup roster.

There’s more from the international basketball world:

Germany’s EasyCredit BBL basketball league has been suspended until at least April 30 as a result of the rampant coronavirus spread throughout that country, per Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia.
The top basketball league in Italy, LBA Serie A, hopes to resume team practices by May 16 if its 2019/20 season is to be completed, according to Sportando’s Dario Skerletic. The coronavirus pandemic has hit Italy particularly hard.
Following a league-wide conference call, the VTB League (comprising teams from Kazakhstan, Estonia, Belarus, Poland, and Russia) has canceled its season, according to Jonathan Givony of Draft Express (Twitter link).

How Olympic Postponement May Impact NBA, Team USA

March 25th, 2020 at 1:00pm CST by Luke Adams

Tokyo and the International Olympic Committee announced on Tuesday that the 2020 Olympics have been postponed until sometime in 2021. As a result, the NBA no longer has to consider the possibility of overlapping with the Games if the league resume its 2019/20 season this summer.

However, the potential dates for the 2020/21 NBA season and the rescheduled Tokyo Olympics remain very much up in the air. As such, there’s no guarantee that we’ll see the ’20/21 campaign end in June and the Olympics begin on July 24, which was the plan for this year before the coronavirus crisis worsened.

Here’s what we know so far about the impact the Olympic postponement might have on the NBA and Team USA specifically:

USA Basketball managing director Jerry Colangelo and head coach Gregg Popovich had only been committed to the program through 2020, but that commitment will now extend to 2021, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst confirms. “We’re all-in and we’re committed,” Colangelo said. “It’s important to deal with the unknowns and this virus. This too shall pass, and we’ll be back for everyone’s well-being.”
Within that Windhorst story, Colangelo says USA Basketball will adjust if NBA players aren’t available for the rescheduled Olympics, but points out that changing the window for the NBA season or the Olympics would be a significant undertaking. “Changing the window for the NBA is easier said than done. There’s a lot of logistics and contracts to deal with,” Colangelo said. “Same for the Olympics. You have to assume it will be around the same dates (in 2021).”
As Windhorst and Tim Bontemps of ESPN note in a Q&A on the rescheduled Olympics, it’s possible Team USA will no longer be able to send its top players as a result of the postponement. However, it’s also possible that players like Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving – who may not have been ready to go for the 2020 Games – will be healthy and available to participate by the time USA Basketball finalizes its roster in 2021.
Joe Ingles, who will represent Australia in the Tokyo Olympics, said he’d be disappointed if a schedule conflict prevent him from playing for the Boomers, as Joe Vardon of The Athletic relays. “I do understand that the NBA and the Utah Jazz pay my salary and it’s really good money and I’m obviously obligated to be here (in the NBA),” Ingles said. “I absolutely love playing for Australia and would do anything to keep playing for Australia, representing my country. We obviously don’t really know what that looks like yet. I hope (the NBA season and the Olympics) don’t clash.”

Tokyo Olympics Officially Postponed To 2021

March 24th, 2020 at 8:12am CST by Luke Adams

The 2020 Tokyo Olympics have officially been postponed to 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic, the International Olympic Committee and the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee announced this morning in a joint statement.

The exact dates for the rescheduled event haven’t yet been determined. Today’s announcement indicated that the Olympics will happen at “a date beyond 2020 but not later than summer 2021.” Given that these are the Summer Games, pushing them back by about a full year seems like the most probable outcome. They were previously scheduled to begin on July 24, 2020.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Tuesday that he had asked IOC president Thomas Bach for a one-year delay and he agreed “100%,” per Motoko Rich, Matt Futterman, and Tariq Panja of The New York Times. The formal announcement comes less than 24 hours after IOC member Dick Pound said in an interview that the Tokyo Games would be postponed.

As noted in the New York Times report and in a story by Nancy Armour and Tom Schad of USA Today, postponing the 2020 Olympics will be a massive undertaking with a series of logistical challenges, including adjusting TV broadcasting deals, working around world championship events in certain sports, and dealing with venue and hotel availability.

It remains to be seen how the postponement will affect the basketball portion of the Olympics. It’s safe to say that the qualifying tournaments scheduled to take place this June to determine the last four teams in the men’s tournament will also be pushed back. But with the new dates undetermined and the calendars for the 2019/20 and 2020/21 NBA seasons also up in the air, there’s no guarantee that NBA players will be free to participate in those qualifying tournaments — or even in the Olympics themselves.

Pound: IOC To Postpone 2020 Olympics

March 23rd, 2020 at 12:37pm CST by Luke Adams

The 2020 Tokyo Olympics won’t be held as scheduled, International Olympic Committee member Dick Pound tells Christine Brennan of USA Today. According to Pound, the coronavirus pandemic will cause the Games to be postponed, likely until 2021, with many of the details expected to be worked out in the coming weeks.

“On the basis of the information the IOC has, postponement has been decided,” Pound told USA Today. “The parameters going forward have not been determined, but the Games are not going to start on July 24, that much I know.”

The IOC has yet to make any official announcements regarding the 2020 Olympics, having suggested over the weekend for the first time that a postponement was being considered. Pound tells Brennan that he believes formal announcements are coming soon.

“It will come in stages,” he said. “We will postpone this and begin to deal with all the ramifications of moving this, which are immense.”

The Canadian and Australian Olympic Committees have issued statements suggesting they won’t participate in the 2020 Olympics unless they’re postponed, and Brennan notes that Germany, Brazil, Norway, and other countries have publicly urged the IOC to delay the Games.

Assuming the IOC does officially push back the 2020 Olympics, it’s unclear exactly how the basketball portion of the event might be affected. Eight of 12 teams in the men’s basketball tournament have been decided, with four spots still up for grabs. Qualifying tournaments for those last four spots were scheduled to be held in June, but they’ll presumably be postponed as well.

Depending on when the rescheduled qualifiers and Olympics take place and how the NBA ultimately handles its own postponed season, it’s possible the two calendars will overlap, limiting NBA players’ ability to participate in the Games.

Canada, Australia Won’t Participate In Olympics Without Postponement

March 23rd, 2020 at 7:39am CST by Dana Gauruder

MARCH 23: The Australian National Committee has told its athletes to prepare for the Olympics to be postponed by a year, indicating in its announcement that an Australian Team can’t be assembled for 2020. Unlike Canada, Australia is one of eight teams that has already qualified for the basketball tournament at the Tokyo Olympics.

MARCH 22: The Canadian Olympic Committee will not send its athletes, including the basketball team, to the Tokyo Olympics unless the event is postponed, the CBC News tweets. The Summer Olympics are scheduled to begin on July 24.

In a statement, the committee urges the International Olympic Committee and World Health Organization to postpone the Games for one year. The committee also pledges its full support to help the IOC navigate the complexities created by such a postponement.

Team Canada’s basketball team is coached by Raptors coach Nick Nurse and includes numerous NBA players. Canada isn’t yet guaranteed a spot in the Tokyo Olympics, but was scheduled to host and compete in a qualifying tournament this June.

The IOC has stated that “cancellation is not on the agenda,” but the organization suggests delaying the 2020 Games is on the table. However, its president Thomas Bach says that it’s too early to make a final decision about the date of the Olympic Games in Tokyo.

Earlier this week, USA Track and Field called for the Summer Olympics to be postponed.