“You have to know how to turn the page”, said Pau Gasol. The Spaniard, one of the finest achievements in the history of European basketball, announced Tuesday, October 5, in Barcelona that, at 41, he was putting an end to his career as a professional player.
During a farewell ceremony held at the Liceu theater in Barcelona, surrounded by his family and relatives, he explained:
“I’m here to let you know that I’m going to retire from professional basketball. It’s a tough decision, after so many years, as you can imagine. But it is a thoughtful decision. “
“I wanted to end up playing and enjoying, and not on crutches and between several operations”, admitted Gasol, victim of a serious fractured foot in 2019 which had almost put an end to his career.
Two Olympic silver medals, three European titles
The eldest of the Gasol brothers notably led Spain to a world coronation, two Olympic silver medals, three European titles, and had a remarkable career in the NBA championship, which he won twice (in 2009 and 2010) with Kobe Bryant’s Los Angeles Lakers.
Leader of the Spanish generation of “Ninos de Oro” (golden children), which included Juan Carlos Navarro, his brother Marc or even Rudy Fernandez, Pau Gasol made Spain the first nation of European basketball since the beginning of the XXIe century.
The Catalan giant (2.16 m) is one of the greatest European basketball players in history, alongside legends like Dirk Nowitzki, Drazen Petrovic, Toni Kukoc or his best French enemy Tony Parker.
Pau Gasol won almost everything: in Spain under the colors of FC Barcelona, then in the NBA, and even internationally, where he touched the invincible Americans at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing and 2012 in London … without ever succeed in gleaning gold. His last attempt, this summer in Tokyo, ended in failure, Spain having been eliminated in quarters by the United States (95-81).
It was to win a coronation in the Euroleague, the only club title missing from its record, that Pau Gasol returned to FC Barcelona, in his club of hearts, in 2021, after having unsuccessfully skimmed several NBA teams, including San Antonio and Milwaukee. But, with the return of a Gasol on the decline, Barça failed to win the queen competition of European basketball.