Miami Heat forward Kelly Olynyk will be unable to participate for Team Canada at the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup, his agent Greg Lawrence told Sportsnet’s Michael Grange.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski was first to report Olynyk would be unable to play.
Kelly Olynyk is OUT of the World Cup for Canada due to a bone bruise on his knee after being examined Heat doctors in Miami today, per agent Greg Lawrence.
After suffering a knee injury in competition last week, Miami Heat F Kelly Olynyk will be unable to compete for Canada in the FIBA World Cup, source tells ESPN. Olynyk is expected to be ready for the start of the NBA season.
Olynyk, Grange reports, was in Miami getting evaluated for a bone bruise he suffered on his knee after slipping and crashing hard to the floor during Canada’s first exhibition contest with Nigeria in Toronto last week.
He was projected to only miss a week and join Team Canada afterwards but that no longer appears to be the case.
Kelly Olynyk is in Miami being evaluated by Heat re: bone bruise he suffered on his knee in Canada’s exhibition game vs. Nigeria last Thursday. As much as Olynyk wants to play at World Cup I can only presume the team will have a lot of input on what ends up happening.
Olynyk is one of Canada’s senior men’s basketball team’s longest-serving members and would’ve been counted on by head coach Nick Nurse as one of the team’s key offensive contributors.
He joins R.J. Barrett (calf), Jamal Murray (ankle) and Chris Boucher (personal reasons) as the latest NBA player to pull out of/be unfit to participate for Canada at the World Cup.
The FIBA World Cup will begin on Aug. 31, with Canada set to kick off its tournament against Australia on Sept. 1.
Courtesy: SportsNet
