Ex-Raptors coach rips Olympic organizers for 'incredibly dangerous' locker room issue

Daniel Rainbird
·Writer
·3 min read
Spanish head coach Sergio Scariolo gestures to the referees. (Photo by Angel Martinez/Getty Images)
Spanish head coach Sergio Scariolo gestures to the referees. (Photo by Angel Martinez/Getty Images)

Spain’s men’s basketball coach Sergio Scariolo couldn’t believe the level of disrespect shown to his players after a hard-fought victory on Tuesday in Tokyo.

After defeating the host nation 88-77, the Spanish team was stuck on the court for nearly half an hour before being allowed back in the locker room, compelling their bench boss to call out tournament organizers and demand a change in protocols.

"It took 25 minutes from the end of the game before they could get their legs into an ice bath, and that's something that is very dangerous and needs to be changed," said Scariolo. "Their legs are tired, and they should be treated with respect; protocols have to be changed.

"Everyone's here for one thing, and that's the players, and we need to look after their health. Honestly, I'm not just annoyed for the sake of being annoyed, I repeat, it's incredibly dangerous."

The reason for the extended wait was not clear.

Scariolo has plenty of experience at the helm of the Spanish men’s national team. He earned a silver medal at Beijing in 2008, a bronze medal in Rio and world championship gold in 2019.

But Canadian fans might remember his name better for his championship pedigree rather than the podium finishes.

The 60-year-old helped Nick Nurse coach a Toronto Raptors team led by Kyle Lowry, Fred VanVleet, Kawhi Leonard and Spanish legend Marc Gasol to an NBA championship as an assistant in 2019.

Scariolo’s most significant individual achievement with the Raptors came on Feb. 26, 2021, when he stepped in as head coach in place of Nurse, who was out due to COVID-19 protocols, and earned his first career NBA win in a victory over the Houston Rockets.

The coach, who’s joining Italian club Virtus Bologna next season, doesn’t seem afraid to speak honestly when queried. Just last week he claimed the men’s basketball gold medal was “already booked” for the United States.

Scariolo has a point. The United States has secured gold in all but one Olympics since NBA players began participating in 1992. Or was he playing mind games after watching the Americans lose pre-Olympic tournament exhibition games to Nigeria and Australia?

The United States already has its first loss at this summer’s Games after opening the tournament with an 83-76 defeat to France, snapping a 25-game Olympic win streak.

The Spanish team boasts one of the strongest rosters in Tokyo, led by point guard Ricky Rubio, Gasol, his brother Pau, and centre Willy Hernangómez. Here's hoping there's not another locker room snafu when they face Argentina in their next game on Thursday.

More from Yahoo Sports

  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next

Latest Stories

  • Mining stoppage adds to Eramet's New Caledonia woes

    Eramet subsidiary SLN's nickel mining operations in northern New Caledonia have been suspended, adding to difficulties at the loss-making business that saw a slide in first-quarter output. SLN is part of a struggling New Caledonian nickel industry that the French government is trying to salvage with a proposed rescue package. Mining production at SLN was 1.0 million wet metric tons in the first quarter, down 32% from the same period last year, as issues over mining permits weighed on output.

  • Soccer-Criticism part of life at Manchester United, Fernandes says

    Players must accept criticism as readily as praise at Manchester United, Bruno Fernandes said after the Portuguese midfielder rescued his side with two goals in a 4-2 home Premier League victory over Sheffield United. Fernandes made it 2-2 from the penalty spot in the 61st minute then put United ahead with a long-range strike 20 minutes later after the hosts had fallen behind twice against the Premier League's bottom team. United had come in for heavy criticism following Sunday's FA Cup semi-final against Coventry City where they squandered a 3-0 lead before going through via a penalty shoot-out.

  • Fifth arrest made in connection to deaths of 2 Kansas women

    Paul Jeremiah Grice confessed to participating in the killing and subsequent burial, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation revealed.

  • Sadiq Khan admits mayoral elections will be judgement day on Ulez and other transport policies

    Asked at a BBC London TV hustings whether he had succeeded in bringing Londoners with him on clean air and car travel, he says: ‘We will find out on May 2’

  • London Eye set to be made a fixture of capital's skyline for decades to come

    Lambeth Council set to make attraction permanent beyond current cut-off date of 2028

  • FTSE 100 Live 24 April: No record close as index finishes down four points, Lloyds up despite profit slide

    The rejuvenated FTSE 100 index touched a new record today in a session when the focus turned to UK banking stocks. Lloyds Banking Group kicked off the sector’s reporting season by posting a 28% fall in first quarter profits alongside unchanged full-year guidance. Other companies in the spotlight today included Reckitt Benckiser, Jet2 and the Carex business PZ Cussons.

  • 'I've killed 300 squirrels in four years'

    Grey squirrels are spreading to the north of England and wiping out the native red squirrels.

  • NBA Twitter reacts to Miami beating Boston in Game 2: ‘The epitome of Heat culture’

    Here's how NBA Twitter reacted to Miami Heat evening up the series against the Boston Celtics.

  • UPDATE 1-Sanofi Q1 profit slips on generic competition, forex effects

    Sanofi reported on Thursday that its first-quarter operating income declined 14.7%, as unfavourable currency effects and cheap competition to multiple sclerosis drug Aubagio outweighed rising sales of anti-inflammatory drug Dupixent. The company reiterated it expects 2024 adjusted earnings per share (EPS) to slip by a "low single-digit" percentage, excluding currency swings, citing higher taxes and an increase in development expenditure. Finance chief Francois-Xavier Roger said in a media call that the decline in the Argentine Peso was a particular drag on first-quarter overseas sales.

  • Bucks, Pacers tied 1-1 heading to game 3

    Milwaukee Bucks (49-33, third in the Eastern Conference) vs. Indiana Pacers (47-35, sixth in the Eastern Conference)Indianapolis; Friday, 5:30 p.m. EDTBETMGM SPORTSBOOK: LINE Pacers -5; over/under is 222.5EASTERN CONFERENCE FIRST ROUND: Series tied 1-1BOTTOM LINE: The Milwaukee Bucks visit the Indiana Pacers for game three of the Eastern Conference first round with the series tied 1-1. The Pacers defeated the Bucks 125-108 in the last matchup. Pascal Siakam led the Pacers with 37 points, and Dam

  • Searing heat shuts schools for 33 million children

    Bangladesh has closed schools and colleges due to extreme heat for the second year in a row.

  • Wales school stabbing - latest: Girl arrested on suspicion of attempted murder as teachers and pupil stabbed

    Police and ambulance called out to Amman Valley School in Ammanford, Carmarthenshire

  • AP PHOTOS: Russian kids ride sticks with a horse's head in hobby horsing competition

    Several dozen kids — 48 girls and one boy, from first-graders to teenagers — gathered recently at a gymnasium in northern St. Petersburg for a hobby horsing competition. The event looked exactly like a proper equestrian competition, but instead of a horse they rode a stick with a horse’s head. Hobby horsing aficionados say one can buy a stick horse or make one from scratch.

  • French police union threatens to disrupt Olympics relay

    A French police trade union is threatening to disrupt the Olympics torch relay ahead of the start of the Paris Games in July unless officers are given bonuses they were promised. The union says they're ready to strike later today, Thursday. The police's Alliance Union said that the French prime minister's office and economy ministry are holding up special Olympics payments promised to police, which could amount to as much as 1,900 euros.Warning that a first demonstration had been called for toda

  • Mavericks, Clippers meet with series tied 1-1

    Los Angeles Clippers (51-31, fourth in the Western Conference) vs. Dallas Mavericks (50-32, fifth in the Western Conference)Dallas; Friday, 8 p.m. EDTBETMGM SPORTSBOOK: LINE Mavericks -4.5; over/under is 209WESTERN CONFERENCE FIRST ROUND: Series tied 1-1BOTTOM LINE: The Los Angeles Clippers visit the Dallas Mavericks for game three of the Western Conference first round with the series tied 1-1. The Mavericks beat the Clippers 96-93 in the last matchup. Luka Doncic led the Mavericks with 32 point

  • Edwards and the Timberwolves visit Phoenix with 2-0 series lead

    Minnesota Timberwolves (56-26, third in the Western Conference) vs. Phoenix Suns (49-33, sixth in the Western Conference)Phoenix; Friday, 10:30 p.m. EDTBETMGM SPORTSBOOK: LINE Suns -4; over/under is 206.5WESTERN CONFERENCE FIRST ROUND: Timberwolves lead series 2-0BOTTOM LINE: The Minnesota Timberwolves visit the Phoenix Suns in the Western Conference first round with a 2-0 lead in the series. The Timberwolves won the last meeting 105-93 on April 23 led by 25 points from Jaden McDaniels, while De

  • Income optimism boosts German consumer sentiment in May, finds GfK

    German consumer sentiment is set to rise in May on the back of households' brighter income expectations, continuing a path of recovery that has been slow-going due to uncertainty about the country's economic development, a survey showed on Thursday. The consumer sentiment index published jointly by GfK and the Nuremberg Institute for Market Decisions (NIM) rose to -24.2 heading into May from a slightly revised -27.3 in April. Income expectations were a bright spot, climbing 12.2 points to 10.7, boosted by falling inflation and rising wages.

  • Burkina Faso's army massacred over 200 civilians in village raid - Human Rights Watch

    Military forces in Burkina Faso killed 223 civilians, including babies and many children, in attacks on two villages accused of cooperating with militants, Human Rights Watch said in a report published Thursday. The mass killings took place on Feb. 25 in the country's northern villages of Nondin and Soro, and some 56 children were among the dead, according to the report. The human rights organization called on the United Nations and the African Union to provide investigators and to support local

  • Pods of whales stranded on Australia's west coast

    STORY: Marine wildlife experts rushed to the remote estuary in Dunsborough in the hope of rescuing the whales. But 26 of the whales had already died when they arrived. In July last year, more than 50 pilot whales died after stranding on a remote Western Australia beach.Pilot whales are notorious for their tight-knit social bonds, so when one gets into difficulty and strands, the rest often follow, according to marine experts at the University of Western Australia.

  • Portugal: 50 years after the revolution, are the carnations wilting?

    25 April, 2024, marks the 50th anniversary of Portugal's Carnation Revolution. It ended about 41 years of dictatorship and began an era of democracy. The milestone is celebrated as the political landscape shifts, with the centre-right winning recent elections and the far-right gaining ground.View on euronews