It is bad news for Nicolás Laprovíttola and for basketball. Not only for him Barcelona and the Argentine National Teamwho will lose the point guard for the remainder of the season, but for those fans of this sport who contemplate the ability of the talented albiceleste. The man from Buenos Aires, born in Morón, suffered the rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament and an injury to the external meniscus of the right kneeas reported this Monday by the Blaugrana club.
The 34-year-old basketball player will undergo surgery in the coming days and, after the operation, Barça will issue a new statement with the estimated time he will be out.
(𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐂𝐍𝐈𝐂𝐀𝐓 𝐌𝐄̀𝐃𝐂)
The tests carried out on the player 𝐍𝐢𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐚́𝐬 𝐋𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐨𝐥𝐚 confirm that he has a rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament and an injury to the external meniscus of his right knee.
The player will undergo surgery in the coming days. pic.twitter.com/93oZLHt1OU
— Barça Basket (@FCBbasket) October 21, 2024
Laprovittola was injured this Sunday, in the final stretch of the defeat against Baskonia (89-93) at the Palau Blaugrana. It was a fortuitous action in the last quarter, a bad fall after a layup, which left the player lying on the court with gestures of pain.
‘Lapro’ was able to stand up with the help of a doctor and his Czech teammate Jan Veselý, who accompanied him to the entrance door to the locker room. Then, the Argentine was transferred by two Barcelona collaborators, but without being able to step with his right leg.
FC Barcelona announced that Nico Laprovittola had a tear in his anterior cruciate ligament and external meniscus of his right knee. pic.twitter.com/vXoR2GFf5f
— Ferhat Yeşiltaş (@NeoRock06) October 21, 2024
Joan Peñarroya, Barcelona coach, stated: “We are going to wait for the tests, but surely the worst news today will not be the defeat. The injury doesn’t look good, but we’ll see if we’re lucky and it’s less serious than we ‘a priori’ thought.”. That wish ultimately did not happen.
Until the moment he was on the field, Laprovíttola, son of national representative Margarita Stolbizer, had added three rebounds and eight assistsalthough he was only on the court for 16 minutes, because he was coming from great wear and tear after what was Barcelona’s great victory in Belgrade against Red Star last Friday.
Although the first diagnosis provided by the club on the same night of the game pointed to a sprained knee, subsequent tests confirmed the severity of the extent of the injury, which will leave the point guard out of the park for several months.
The National Team loses it for the AmeriCup Qualifiers
In addition to Barcelona, the Argentine National Team is also lamenting. On Friday, November 22 and Monday, November 25, they will host Venezuela and Colombia in Mar del Plata, in two important matches to try to reach the AmeriCup of Nicaragua 2025, where they will defend the title obtained in Brazil.
In February the balance was one victory and one defeat against Chile, in Mar del Plata and in Valdivia. The four teams in Group A have a 1-1 record, so this double home date is more than important. Once this window has concluded, in February 2025 and as a visitor, the group will close by facing Venezuela on Thursday the 20th and Colombia on Sunday the 23rd.
The three best teams from Group A, B and D along with the best two from Group C and the host country will qualify for the tournament. The AmeriCup 2025 will be held from August 23 to 31 in Managua, Nicaragua.
Although Pablo Prigioni had not yet given the squad list, the presence of Laprovíttola was a possibility, who was during the tour of Europe last July, where the Albiceleste obtained three wins and one defeat against Great Britain, Portugal and South Sudan .