The Chicago Bulls forward Luol Deng left last night's 105-102 victory over the Rockets with what is believed to be a stress fracture in his right tibia.

 

Deng played 15 minutes, scoring six points, in the first half but did not start the third quarter.

 

He is scheduled for an MRI tomorrow.

 

Deng said: "I had a play in the first half where I jumped up and I felt it.

 

"I just wanted to get x-rayed to check on it.

 

"The x-ray showed that it might be a possible stress fracture."

 

Deng has been the figure-head of Britain's attempts to qualify for the Olympics in 2012 for the first time since 1948.

 

He inspired them to qualify for the European Championships in Poland this year, the first time that Britain have reached that stage since 1981.

 

They have been drawn in Group C alongside world champions Spain, Slovenia and Serbia and will be based in Warsaw.

 

Deng should have plenty of time to recover before the tournament, which opens on September 7.

 

But this latest injury setback for their talisman will surely set alarm bells ringing among British Basketball officials who must fear the possible financial repercussions.

 

Britain's qualification for the European Championships carried an expensive price tag as the sport had to find an insurance premium of $500,000 (£272,000) to cover Deng in case he got injured.

 

That was because New York company used by the NBA to cover all its players when they represent their national teams had refused to insure Deng, who had just signed a new $80 million (£55.8 million) deal with tbe Bulls, in case he aggravated an minor back injury.