The Memphis Grizzlies suffered a huge blow earlier this week when it was announced that star center Marc Gasol had a fractured foot and may have to miss the rest of the season. The Grizzlies are a playoff team that will miss Gasol's presence on the court big time, but they aren't the only team that may be without the 31-year-old in the near future. Gasol's injury could cause him to also miss the 2016 Olympics, according to Marca.
Gasol suffered the injury in the first half of the Grizzlies' game against the Blazers on Monday night, and since then it has been revealed that the injury is a mid-foot fracture, according to Eric Freeman of Yahoo! Sports. Mid-foot fractures tend to be extremely tricky, especially for a 7-footer such as Gasol, so it is likely that he will be cautious in his recovery.
The Grizzlies have only said that Gasol is out indefinitely and have not assigned an official timetable. While the Grizzlies won't give him a timetable right now, he is reportedly expected to miss somewhere between four and six months. This projected timetable puts the 2016 Olympics firmly in doubt for Gasol, as the basketball portion will be played from Aug. 6 to Aug. 21 which is at the back end of his reported timetable.
Gasol is known as a guy that plays through injuries and will always come back before he is projected to, but it would be a big risk for him to rush back for the Olympics. Not only will the Spaniard have to let the foot heal, but he will have to get himself back into shape before the games begin, so his status will likely remain in doubt for a while.
This would be a huge blow to the Spanish team because it is usually one of the favorites, and Gasol is one of the big reasons why. If Gasol is unable to play it would give a huge boost to team USA because it wouldn't have to deal with his size. Even if Gasol does decide he wants to give it a go, the Grizzlies have the right to stop him based on his health concerns.
