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insurance exclusion, Deng's Back (national team)

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Dekko1
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insurance exclusion, Deng's Back (national team) 

Post#1 » by Dekko1 » Thu Aug 14, 2008 11:51 pm

http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop/0-33-180/Your-NBA-Contract-Might-Clash-With-Your-National-Team.html

Your NBA Contract Might Clash With Your National Team

The Great Britain team is in the fight of its life, trying to keep Luol Deng on the team.

What's the big obstacle? Is he hurt? Something wrong with his passport?

No. It's nothing like that. It's more about the fact that, thanks to his new contract, he's a little tough to insure.

Ian Whittell, writing on Basketball247, writes:

Deng, 23, signed a lucrative new deal with the Chicago Bulls two weeks ago after passing a battery of medical tests.

But the NBA's New York insurance company, which must cover all NBA players before they can play for their national teams, has refused to completely insure that contract because of an old back injury.

Deng missed three games in November with a minor back problem and the insurance broker's decision is based on an MRI scan taken then. Although a policy has been issued it does not cover that part of the player's body.

Under an arrangement with world-governing body FIBA, the NBA is obliged to release any player who wishes to play for his national team but only if insurance requirements are totally met. ...

GB officials were last night exploring their options and preparing to lodge an appeal with the NBA -- a step which sources claim would be futile.

The only other alternative would be for the GB federation to negotiate with the Bulls and insure Deng's contract themselves which is likely to prove impossible after the NBA's decision.

Deng has been training with the team for much of this summer, and last summer. He's excited to play for Great Britain. Deng is, essentially, the great hope of the sport in Great Britain, as that country prepares to host the Olympics in four years.

Deng is not the first NBA player to have this problem. He's wrestling with an issue that has dogged Zydrunas Ilgauskas and others.

It's a small point, in the big picture, but as the NBA is increasingly competing with top overseas teams for talent, it's probably not great for non-American players to learn the NBA's own insurance company can keep them from their national teams.
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Re: insurance exclusion, Deng's Back (national team) 

Post#2 » by Dunkenstein » Fri Aug 15, 2008 8:18 am

The only other alternative would be for the GB federation to negotiate with the Bulls and insure Deng's contract themselves which is likely to prove impossible after the NBA's decision.

I believe this paragraph is inaccurate. It isn't the NBA's decision that's keeping Deng from playing for GB. It's the decision of the league's insurance company not to insure Deng's back against further injury that's the problem. The Bulls have have made a sizable investment in Deng and are already on the hook for his salary if his back gets injured playing an NBA game. It would be foolish to risk all that money should Deng get injured while playing for GB.

It's my understanding that the league's insurer has chosen not to insure Ilgauskas's feet. And he has been unable to play for Lithuania in international competition because the Lithuanians are unwilling or unable to pay for the insurance necessary to cover any injury to his feet that might occur in preparation for or during international competition.

Moreover, I think the author is inaccurate when he says that it would be "impossible" for GB to insure Deng's contract because of any decision by the NBA or it's insurer. From what I understand, neither the Bulls nor the NBA should stand in the way of GB insuring the full amount of Deng's contract against a back injury, thus allowing him to play for GB. It would no doubt be an expensive proposition, but might be a worthwhile investment for Britain since they are hosting the games and I believe their basketball team gets an automatic bid to play in the Olympics.
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Re: insurance exclusion, Deng's Back (national team) 

Post#3 » by Dekko1 » Fri Aug 15, 2008 3:38 pm

Dunkenstein wrote:
The only other alternative would be for the GB federation to negotiate with the Bulls and insure Deng's contract themselves which is likely to prove impossible after the NBA's decision.

I believe this paragraph is inaccurate. It isn't the NBA's decision that's keeping Deng from playing for GB. It's the decision of the league's insurance company not to insure Deng's back against further injury that's the problem. The Bulls have have made a sizable investment in Deng and are already on the hook for his salary if his back gets injured playing an NBA game. It would be foolish to risk all that money should Deng get injured while playing for GB. It's my understanding that the league's insurer has chosen not to insure Ilgauskas's feet. And he has been unable to play for Lithuania in international competition because the Lithuanians are unwilling or unable to pay for the insurance necessary to cover any injury to his feet that might occur in preparation for or during international competition.


That was my first thought on that too but when I re-read it I decided he was referring to the NBA's decision not to release Deng to play despite not being fully insured. Was that an option?


Dunkenstein wrote:Moreover, I think the author is inaccurate when he says that it would be "impossible" for GB to insure Deng's contract because of any decision by the NBA or it's insurer. From what I understand, neither the Bulls nor the NBA should stand in the way of GB insuring the full amount of Deng's contract against a back injury, thus allowing him to play for GB. It would no doubt be an expensive proposition, but might be a worthwhile investment for Britain since they are hosting the games and I believe their basketball team gets an automatic bid to play in the Olympics.


A UK report claims:
http://www.sportinglife.com/others/news/story_get.cgi?STORY_NAME=others/08/08/14/BASKETBALL_Great_Britain_Quotes.html
Deng's NBA club, the Chicago Bulls, have invoked a clause in Deng's insurance policy that would invalidate his insurance if he plays for any team other than the Bulls.
====
That also seems wrong.

As to cost for separate insurance £6million annually over six years was the price they quote as expected in that same report for his new contract and say " that premium could be almost prohibitive", but it says they are still negotiating:

"We don't know yet - we've got a couple of companies looking at it and obviously we've got to get medical records to them," said Spice.

"The key thing for us is to get him reassessed so that we've got an accurate picture and so do the insurance companies.

"One of our hopeful points is that the information they're reacting off is when he was injured. We're going to show them a picture of what he looks like now."
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Re: insurance exclusion, Deng's Back (national team) 

Post#4 » by Tommy Udo 6 » Wed Aug 20, 2008 11:24 am

It is my understanding that Deng's contract with Bulls has the standard insurance protection of most NBA contracts. There is no exclusion for "back injuries". It is the coverage while playing for GB (non-NBA) that is the issue.

Is this accurate?
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Re: insurance exclusion, Deng's Back (national team) 

Post#5 » by Dekko1 » Wed Aug 20, 2008 7:50 pm

Tommy Udo 6 wrote:It is my understanding that Deng's contract with Bulls has the standard insurance protection of most NBA contracts. There is no exclusion for "back injuries". It is the coverage while playing for GB (non-NBA) that is the issue.

Is this accurate?


According to the article above the league's insurance carrier did exclude his back from their coverage for the Bull's contract because of what a MRI showed when he hurt it last fall.
Playing in the UK would have been fully covered otherwise.

They get 20 exclusions. 6 players totally and 14 body parts.
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Re: insurance exclusion, Deng's Back (national team) 

Post#6 » by LarryCoon » Wed Aug 20, 2008 9:47 pm

Dekko1 wrote:They get 20 exclusions. 6 players totally and 14 body parts.


Good call on their part to use one of those 14 exclusions on Ron Artest's brain....
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Re: insurance exclusion, Deng's Back (national team) 

Post#7 » by Dekko1 » Thu Aug 21, 2008 5:21 am

LarryCoon wrote:
Dekko1 wrote:They get 20 exclusions. 6 players totally and 14 body parts.


Good call on their part to use one of those 14 exclusions on Ron Artest's brain....


I think the one on Curry's heart has a dual purpose...

On an update on Deng he went to the UK to have a new MRI for the negotiation to get the additional insurance.
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