For the past few months, Chicago Bulls forward Luol Deng has been playing with torn ligaments in his left wrist, and now that the Bulls have been eliminated from the 2012 NBA Playoffs, he's looking forward to playing in the 2012 London Olympics this summer. Deng postponed surgery on his wrist in order to give Chicago their best chance at getting to the NBA Finals this season, so it's hard to be too upset if he decides to play for host country Great Britain in the Olympics. Sure the Bulls are in a tough spot heading into next season -- as Derrick Rose will still be on the mend from his ACL tear -- but Deng is genuinely excited about the opportunity to fulfill a childhood dream:
"I just know that I'm looking forward to playing the Olympics. I'm excited about it, something I wanted to do since I was a kid and I'm going to prepare myself for it," he explained. "I've got to see how my wrist feels throughout the Olympics, how it feels from now going into the Olympics and right after the Olympics, I'll make the decision, whether my wrist is good enough that I don't need the surgery or if I need it, so I haven't really ruled out not getting the surgery or getting it.
I just haven't made that decision. Just know that I've got the Olympics ahead of me. Since I was a kid growing up, it's something I always wanted an opportunity to be a part of and the fact that it's in my hometown that I grew up in, in a country that gave me the opportunity to even be here, I'm looking forward to it."
(via Aggrey Sam of CSN-Chicago).
Deng gave the Bulls everything he had this past season, and there is no doubt he will be prepared to do the same after the Olympics are over, so if you start to feel angry that he's not prioritizing his relationship with the Bulls over a once-in-a-lifetime to play for the host country in the Olympics, just refocus that outrage towards Carlos Boozer and his "thats' all that matters, yo" comments.
For more on the Bulls, stick with SB Nation Chicago and make time to read Blog a Bull. For more news, notes and analysis from around the NBA, visit SB Nation's NBA news hub.