Cavs deny Ilgauskus Olympic bid

Jun 13, 2008 - 9:27 PM CLEVELAND (Ticker) -- The Cleveland Cavaliers will not permit Zydrunas Ilgauskas to play in the Olympics for the Lithuanian National team, citing insufficient insurance for their injury-prone center.

Ilgauskas, 33, was sidelined for eight games this season due to a sore back and has missed two full seasons earlier in his career due to injuries to both feet.

Ilgauskas missed the 1996-97 season with an injury to his right foot and did not play in the 1999-2000 season with an injury to his left foot.

The Cavaliers felt that his injuries were too much of a risk to let him play at this summer's Olympics in Beijing.

"Zydrunas is an important member of our team and has generally been a higher-risk player due to his injury history," Cleveland general manager Danny Ferry said in a statement Thursday.

"We declined consent for Zydrunas to play in the Olympics when he approached us several weeks ago and, in light of the inability to insure Zydrunas adequately, we continue to deny consent and will not permit Zydrunas to play in the 2008 Olympics as a member of the Lithuanian National Team."

Ilgauskas has played all 10 of his seasons with the Cavaliers and averaged 13.1 points and 7.5 rebounds in 73 games this season.