CBA is just the beginning

When Marc Gasol landed at Bàsquet Girona, the Spanish international’s intention was to “give back to the city” everything he had given it. Pay off a debt that he only believed Marc had with the team that gave him shelter when he left Barça, not too well. And he has taken very little to pay it. Bàsquet Girona started in 2104 as a grassroots club, to give the boys there the option of playing basketball. In 2017 the senior team was born which, in 2022, is already in ACB. An incomprehensible success without the figure of Marc Gasol, both in the offices and on the pitch.

The path to get there, although it may seem so, has not been easy. Bàsquet Girona has risen three categories in five seasons, the last one being (logically) the most complicated. The team started this season with a 2-7 and the dismissal of the coach, Carles Marco, but then Marc arrived on the court. His presence has been decisive in changing the dynamic, entering the playoffs and ending up eliminating Lleida and Estudiantes to be in the ACB. He was not in vain he was a player who came from the NBA.

The Bàsquet Girona project, however, goes beyond the first team. It has incorporated women’s teams in the base with a union with Uni Girona, has decidedly committed to 3×3 and has also incorporated wheelchair basketball teams. It has gone from having 70 players to more than 400 and there is no need to comment on the impact that Marc has had on the fans. Fontajau, with Sant Boi on the track, has recalled his best years. Public attendance has practically tripled since his arrival.

¿And now that? The first question is to know if Marc will continue playing. It is not a great unknown, because despite the fact that he has not confirmed everything, it suggests that he will be in the ACB. The club’s idea is to maintain the backbone of the team and make three or four signings that give it a leap in quality.