US basketball star to miss Olympics

MIAMI (AFP) –

Miami forward Chris Bosh, pictured June 21, will miss the London Olympics recovering from an abdominal injury, the second player from the NBA champion Heat to announce his withdrawal from the US team.

Miami forward Chris Bosh will miss the London Olympics recovering from an abdominal injury, the second player from the NBA champion Heat to announce his withdrawal from the US team.

Bosh, who missed nine games in the NBA post-season with the injury, joins Heat teammate Dwyane Wade in missing the London Games. Wade is having surgery on his left knee.

In a statement released through his agent to several media outlets, including the Miami Herald, Bosh said he hadn’t fully recovered from the abdominal muscle strain he suffered in the opening game of Miami’s second-round series against Indiana.

He returned to action during the Eastern Conference finals against Boston and played in all five games of the championship series, in which the Heat beat the Oklahoma City Thunder for the NBA title.

Bosh who averaged 14.6 points and 9.4 rebounds in the NBA Finals, said doctors had advised him to rest and rehabilitate in order to avoid devloping a chronic injury.

London would have been a second Olympics for Bosh, who played on America’s winning team in Beijing in 2008.

The US team is already missing several NBA stars including Derrick Rose, LaMarcus Aldridge, Dwight Howard, and Chauncey Billups, who are all out with injuries.

Training camp begins in Las Vegas next week. The team will play five exhibitions with international teams before taking on France on July 29 in their first Olympic encounter.

There are now 16 players vying for 12 spots in the squad.