Tom Thibodeau underwent partial knee replacement in mid-July.

Thibodeau tore cartilage in college and had his meniscus completely removed during the ensuing surgery, leaving bone to basically rub on bone for the last 30 years.

Thibodeau never discussed the situation and even made a joke about it on Thursday.

"It's my kicking leg," he said.

Real Madrid forward Nikola Mirotic, chosen as the 2010-11 Turkish Airlines Euroleague Rising Star, made history at the European under-20 Championships in Bilbao, Spain.

Mirotic, chosen as the tournament's MVP, led the Spanish national team to the gold medal and broke the competition's scoring record, averaging 27 points and 10 rebounds in 9 games.

He led Spain with 29 points and 11 rebounds to an 82-70 win against Italy in the title game on Sunday. Mirotic had done even better - 37 points, 8 rebounds - in the semifinals against Russia and helped Spain to finish the tournament unbeaten.

Bulls draft pick Nikola Mirotic produced 29 points and 11 rebounds, leading Spain to an 82-70 win over Italy in the U20 European championship game.

The 6-foot-10 Mirotic was the tournament’s leading scorer. In nine games, he averaged 27 points, 10 rebounds, shot 59.5 percent from the field, 85.1 percent at the foul line and knocked down 10-of-25 attempts from 3-point range.

The Bulls traded two picks and cash to Minnesota in order to select Mirotic with the 23rd pick of this year’s draft. The Montenegro native is under contract with Spain’s Real Madrid and not expected to join the NBA for a few years.

Exhibition games like the two taking place in the Philippines this weekend are proving to be quite profitable for players, with one source with knowledge of the deals saying the Lakers' Kobe Bryant, Oklahoma City's Kevin Durant and Chicago's Derrick Rose are being paid more than $400,000 apiece for their weekend of tax-free work.

The French national team has obtained insurance for Spurs guard Tony Parker, Blazers forward Nicolas Batum, Bobcats forward Boris Diaw, and Knicks center Ronny Turiaf.

All of the players on the French squad were given medical examinations at the INSEP in Paris last week, including Bulls center Joakim Noah, who has dual U.S. and French citizenship.

Undisclosed questions arose during Noah’s exam. France's basketball federation did not disclose the nature or cause of the problem, but said the injury was suffered toward the end of last season.

Noah struggled to regain his form after suffering a sprained right ankle on March 28 against Philadelphia.

He is rehabilitating the injury in Chicago with the goal of rejoining the French team prior to Eurobasket on August 31.

Suns forward Mickael Pietrus was ruled medically ineligible to play for France because of a previous wrist injury.

With training camp less than a year away and no guarantee of games before then, Jerry Colangelo is ready to start finding out who wants to play on the 2012 U.S. Olympic team.

USA Basketball's chairman said he plans to start contacting candidates "soon, within the next month" to gauge their interest in going to London.

"Just to make contact with all of the people on our list, give them a whole picture of what is coming," Colangelo told The Associated Press in a phone interview. "Basically to get a read from them as to what their interests and intentions are in advance."

Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and the rest of the 2008 gold medalists all committed to returning to the program through 2012, but Colangelo realizes that "circumstances have changed for some of the players who were on the Olympic team."

Chicago Bulls point guard and NBA MVP Derrick Rose will not participate in a pair of exhibition games featuring a team of NBA players against two different teams from the Philippines, contrary to reports earlier this week.

“Derrick was never scheduled to play,” a spokesperson from Wasserman Media Group, the agency that represents Rose, told SN.

One report from Filipino site InterAksyon.com said that Kobe Bryant and Kevin Durant will play in the two charity games in Manila—one against SMART-Gilas Pilipinas, a developmental Filipino national team, and the other against an all-star team from the Philippine Basketball Association.

Kobe Bryant, Derrick Rose, and Kevin Durant are taking their talents to Manila.

The three stars will be part of a selection that will play a pair of charity exhibition games against SMART-Gilas Pilipinas national team and an all-star squad from the Philippine Basketball Association.

Proceeds of the games will go to the MVP Sports Foundation, whose goal is to uplift Philippine sports and to develop Filipino athletes.

Tony Parker and the rest of France's NBA stars were on hand as the national team got together at the national sports institute in Paris on Tuesday to open their preparations for EuroBasket.

The one notable absentee from Vincent Collet's 15-man squad is Mickael Gelabale, who is in the Antilles following the death of his father. The swingman is expected to join his teammates in due time.

NBA stars Parker, along with Joakim Noah, Nicolas Batum, Boris Diaw, Mickael Pietrus and Ronny Turiaf are all on hand for the training camp.

After averaging 29.8 points and nine assists in the second round of the playoffs against the Atlanta Hawks, Derrick Rose’s scoring dipped to 23.4 points per game on 35 percent shooting in the East finals as the Bulls lost to the Heat in five games. Rose now says he should have been in better shape to handle the strain of the postseason.

“I just learned from last season where my conditioning wasn’t up to par at the end of the season,” Rose said. “That’s what I’m working on this summer, getting my conditioning right. There was just fatigue. My body wore down. Just going through the rounds, the first time being there past the first round, it was hard. I’m just learning from it.”

The rest after the season has restored Rose’s health. Teammate Luol Deng also has taught him about the importance of stretching. And Rose knows he’ll face a tougher challenge next season. Because of the success LeBron James had guarding Rose in the conference finals, the MVP expects more teams to use bigger defenders against him.