Melbourne United chief executive Vince Crivelli is confident a bout of appendicitis won't harm the NBA dreams of star guard Chris Goulding.
Goulding was taken to an Adelaide hospital on Thursday morning, and will undergo an appendectomy within the next 24 hours.
The setback means Goulding will miss Thursday night's season opener against Adelaide, as well as next Monday's clash with NBA outfit Oklahoma City Thunder in the United States.
The match against Oklahoma would have given Goulding the perfect chance to impress NBA scouts.
Goulding has come close to landing an NBA deal before, and he still harbours dreams of playing in America.
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But Crivelli believes Goulding will have plenty of other chances to impress NBA scouts.
"The NBL is now really well scouted by NBA teams," Crivelli said.
"We have really close ties with a lot of NBA teams. We host a lot of scouts on a regular basis.
"Chris is a player that's really well known to them. We'll explain what's going on when we're there.
"I have no doubt he'll get the same level of attention from those scouts by having a great NBL season."
Goulding flew with the team from Melbourne to Adelaide on Wednesday.
"He was just starting to feel a bit nauseous and sore late last night," Crivelli said.
"It evolved overnight, and our medical team in Adelaide brought him to hospital in the morning.
"We'll nurse him back to health as quickly as we can."
No timeline has been set on Goulding's return, with the 28-year-old in doubt for the October 14 clash with the 36ers in Adelaide.
Goulding was plagued by an ankle issue last season, but he has now fully recovered from that after undergoing off-season surgery.
