The German basketball professionals have to do without NBA star Dennis Schröder at the Olympics.
The 27-year-old point guard, who was last under contract with the Los Angeles Lakers, will not be on the plane to Tokyo on Sunday, as the German Basketball Association announced on Friday.
“The reason for this is still the enormous insurance requirements that cannot be met,” says a joint communication from Schröder's management and the German Basketball Association.
“I would have loved to have been there in Tokyo. It's the Olympic Games, that's pretty much the greatest for an athlete, and I've always dreamed of participating in the Olympics. I am of course very disappointed that I cannot play and fight together with the team in this important tournament, ”said Schröder.
The native of Braunschweig had already been absent from the qualifying tournament in Split due to the unresolved insurance issue. After the German team had got the ticket to Tokyo, Schröder had once again flirted with participation in the Olympics. “My agent has to do his job now. The German national team has done its job, let's see, ”said Schröder, who supported the German team at all four games as a spectator in the hall, full of emotion.
But as before the tournament in Split, a solution to the insurance question was not possible despite repeated efforts.
Schröder is currently without a contract, hopes from the beginning of August when the so-called Free Agency begins in the USA, but on a highly endowed contract in the three-digit million range - a sum that no insurance company wanted to cover, especially in times of pandemic.
“We had to reckon with this development.
But it is of course clear that you leave no stone unturned for a world-class player like Dennis, ”said national coach Henrik Rödl.
Schröder now wants to keep his fingers crossed at home.
"I'm definitely the team's biggest fan and I really believe in the guys," he said.
Germany will face Italy, Nigeria and Australia in the preliminary round of the Olympics.