London 2012 Olympics: Joel Freeland to become second NBA player in Team GB squad Joel is a great player who continues to make an outstanding contribution to the GB programme. We wish him well in this new challenge. Freeland was playing in relative obscurity with Gran Canaria II in the Spanish third division when the Blazers originally drafted him six years ago. He broke through to the Gran Canaria senior team before moving to Unicaja Malaga where he was a team-mate of fellow GB international Robert Archibald until the latter's move to CAI Zaragoza last year. The 6ft 10in Freeland made his GB debut in 2006 and established himself as one of the team's leading players with outstanding displays in the 2011 European Championship. He will miss the warm-up games in Sheffield on Saturday and Sunday but is expected back in time for Thursday's meeting with the United States in Manchester. Earlier this week Team GB suffered their seventh consecutive defeat when they lost 78-74 to Spain despite Freeland leading the way with 15 points.