The Polish Hammer Marcin Gortat was in Poland (appropriately enough) preparing with his national team for the upcoming EuroBasket tournament.
Except now he’s back in the United States getting a foot problem looked at, according the FIBA’s EuroBasket Web site.
Remember that Gortat sprained his foot last March and missed the end of the regular season because of it. The obvious concern for the Suns is to make sure that fully heals and does not linger into the season.
Marcin Gortat has taken permission to leave the training camp of the Polish national team for three weeks but, in principle, his participation at EuroBasket 2013 is not under question.
The Polish center flew to the USA on Thursday to undergo medical tests, after completing the first stage of preparations for the EuroBasket together with the rest of the team, in Gdansk.
“Physically, I feel better and better, the rehabilitation is going well, but I still feel the pain of the foot, even during training,” the 29-year-old big man said. “I have to make sure that I will be healthy for the whole season.”
This sounds like something that should be fine, it just needs rest. And EuroBasket gets in the way of that.
Gortat is an underrated, solid NBA big man who averaged 11.5 points and 8.5 rebounds a game last season while shooting 52 percent.
The Suns rookie big man Alex Len is also dealing with an injury, having had surgery on both ankles in the past several months.