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Raptors will not free Garbajosa for Beijing Games

TORONTO
Wed Apr 30, 2008 12:00pm EDT
File photo shows Spain's Jorge Garbajosa during their European championship Group B preliminary round basketball match in Seville September 4, 2007. REUTERS/Marcelo del Pozo

TORONTO (Reuters) - The Toronto Raptors said they would not free Spain's Jorge Garbajosa for the Olympics, with the NBA club and the Spanish federation still locked in a legal dispute over an earlier injury to the forward.

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"I think it's a safe assumption that he will not be playing in the Olympics as long as he is under contract with us," Raptors president and general manager Bryan Colangelo told reporters after the Raptors were eliminated by the NBA playoffs by the Orlando Magic.

"I know I'm probably not making many people in Spain happy but that's a safe assumption."

Last month the Raptors sued the Spanish federation for the non-payment of a $1 million insurance policy taken out on Garbajosa, who played in last year's European championship while still recovering from a leg injury.

Garbajosa, who helped Spain to a gold medal at the 2006 world championship, broke his left ankle in fall during a Raptors game in March 2007.

Raptors believe he was rushed back into action for the European championship and played just seven games this season before undergoing surgery again on the left leg December.

(Writing by Steve Keating, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
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