While the Chicago Bulls cleared Luol Deng to participate in the 2012 London Olympics, a previous back injury means his contract is not covered by the NBA's insurance for the Olympics. Instead, his Great Britain team will cover the cost of Deng's Olympic insurance policy.
The policy, which could cost Great Britain basketball upwards of $470,000, will insure the $27 million remaining on Deng's contract with the Bulls. When Deng played for Great Britian in the 2008 European Championship qualifying, British Basketball paid more than $300,000 to insure him.
Even with an insurance policy, Great Britain could still be on the hook for millions of dollars if Deng suffered a career-ending injury. Great Britain's performance director Chris Spice told Rob Dugdale of BBC Sport Great Britain could owe the Bulls more than $15 million.
The first quote was more than that [£300,000] but we're trying to get it down," said Spice. "Basically, if he permanently put himself out of action, we'd have to be able to pay the Bulls £10m.
As the host country, Great Britain was given one of 12 spots in the Olympic basketball bracket. The Olympic basketball tournament begins on July 28, with the gold medal game scheduled for August 12.
For more on Luol Deng and the Chicago Bulls, visit SB Nation's Bull blog Blog a Bull or head over to SB Nation Chicago.
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