NBA star Joe Ingles says there's no way his wife, netball great Renae Ingles (nee Hallinan), will let him miss the Rio Olympics, even if it means he won't be around for the birth of their twins.
The due date for the Ingles' first children is August 5 - the same day as the opening ceremony for the Rio Games - although most twins are born prior to 37 weeks.
Ingles is a key member of a Boomers squad rated a good chance of winning Australia's first Olympic men's basketball medal.
"Obviously I want to be there for the birth of my children but I'm also realistic in the fact that it might not happen," the Utah Jazz swingman told reporters on Tuesday.
"It's something that we'll put a plan together that's best for me, for Renae and for the Boomers as well.
"I don't want to be that guy who's ruining the process for the Olympics.
"But I also know that the guys will support me, whatever happens.
We have been around together for a long time, a lot are fathers themselves so they understand what it means to be around for that."
The best-case scenario for the Ingles is for the twins to be born fit and healthy before the Boomers leave their Melbourne camp in mid-July and head to South America.
What makes a difficult situation somewhat easier is that Renae Ingles knows all about the demands of elite sport, as a star of the Diamonds team who won gold at the 2015 netball world championships and the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
"She understands obviously what it means to play for Australia," said Joe Ingles.
"She's done it herself, she would never let me miss the Olympics, I know that.
"It's about having that process in place so that no-one is shocked when it does happen.
"If that is that I'm here or I'm over there or whatever the process is, I honestly don't know yet."
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