Sport is forgetful, even malevolent, when one stops presenting it with offerings in the form of triumphs. Pablo Laso (Vitoria, 55 years old) knows it well. The Basque coach, an absolute legend of Real Madrid (second with the most titles, 22, and first in games managed, 860), suffered a myocardial infarction on June 5 while the Whites were playing against Baskonia in the ACB semifinals. Panic and concern that ultimately resulted in a scare, since Laso, after being admitted to the ICU and undergoing a catheterization, was discharged just a day and a half after the medical mishap. “I have been lucky that life has given me a warning,” said the coach at the time, while leaking that he was willing to direct his pupils again before the end of the season. His enthusiasm was cut short. Chus Mateo, his second, was in charge of sitting on the bench during the league final against Barcelona, where those from the capital buried the Catalans in practically all aspects of a basketball game (3-1 on the scoreboard). final). On June 20, at the WiZink Center, Laso lifted Real Madrid’s 36th league title, an epic end to a tough season unlike any in the white club’s long history and a fitting tribute to the figure of the Basque. But then, the situation suffered an unthinkable escalation. At the beginning of July, a bomb fell on the Real Madrid family. The club announced his dismissal based on internal medical reports that advised against Laso, after his heart attack, returning to take the keys to the ocean liner. A version that openly clashed with that of the coach, who assured that the doctors who treated him at the La Moraleja hospital during his heart attack assured him that he could return to the Madrid bench: “The doctors who have treated me have told me that I am perfectly and I would have liked the club, if it had other information, to have communicated it to me. I don’t have the Real Madrid medical reports, I have mine. I don’t know if it’s a betrayal, but I’m going to trust what the doctors tell me. All my medical reports are personal.” Despite the insistence of Laso, who always had the first option of staying in charge of him, the decision was irrevocable and Chus Mateo was named the team’s new coach. In the shooting, one casualty. As Marca announced at the time, the basketball section doctor, Miguel Ángel López, was fired after refusing to take Laso off work as, according to the newspaper, the sports management requested. López was fired and Laso’s historic chapter in Madrid ended with a violent slam of the door. Since then, a fade to black. Laso, after winning the 2018 Euroleague in Belgrade Laso’s appearances have been sporadic since then and, despite showing his obvious discontent with how his departure from Real Madrid was managed, he has never ended up openly charging against his former superiors of the. He has limited himself to communicating the obvious: he wants to return to training. “I’m in no rush to return, but he would return tomorrow,” he recently assured in an interview with Relevo. But despite his desire, the months go by and Laso, with the current season reaching its halfway point, has become a kind of unicorn within elite basketball. His extensive track record (22 titles with Madrid, including two Euroleagues) more than supports him as a captain capable of meeting the highest demands but, due to different circumstances, no team has ended up opting for the Basque as head coach. Madrid’s decision not to risk having the coach for a health issue is shared by other clubs. No one takes the step of recovering it for the courts. Train as soon as possible Few people know coach Laso better than Jota Cuspinera (Guecho, 54 years old), former coach of clubs such as Fuenlabrada and Estudiantes and who was assistant to the man from Vitoria between 2009 and 2014 at Real Madrid. Despite the fact that Christmas is already rampant, Cuspinera attends ABC to explain the emotional and professional moment that his former partner is experiencing. “I was with him the other day. Pablo is fine, obviously saddened to leave what has been his home for the last 10 years. He was comfortable there, it’s a club he adores. But having said this, he fully accepts what has happened. He is a coach, these things happen and he is waiting for a proposal to come out, “explains the coach, who also conveys that Laso would have no objection to trying his hand outside our borders. Related News Standard Sports Center No From Santi Aldama to Juan Ayuso: the revelation athletes of 2022 Iván Martín In a bittersweet year for Spanish sport, a series of unexpected professionals left their mark on the world scene. A new wave of national talent «Pablo wants to train and from what I know him, if he likes the project, he has no problem leaving Spain or directing a team that is not top. What he likes is being trained on a field. Obviously, if he gets an offer to lead another great team like Real Madrid, he will be very happy, but just as happy he would do something else for him. Happiness comes to him with a ball in his hands, he doesn’t care where. Another question that inevitably arises during the talk with Cuspinera is how such a long break affects a mind designed to think about elite basketball 24 hours a day. «The first thing to take into account is that Pablo does not leave Madrid voluntarily. I am convinced that what he would like is to be training and at Real Madrid. Once you’re out, what you’re trying to do is see the positive side of the situation. These are periods where, beyond the nervousness they generate, you take advantage of it to watch basketball and not from the perspective of the team you coach, from a more general point of view. You are not tied, it helps you to rearrange ideas and write down new ones that you would like to try once you sit on a bench again ». For Cuspinera, Laso’s heart attack is already past water. «Pablo already said it, he has the reports that show that he is fine and that he can train. Of course I’m not the one hiring. But what I can tell you is that I saw a Laso who cares about his health and that obviously, despite the small incident he had, he is well and is eager to train ». Haste and emotion are the new paths along which Laso’s career takes place. Will you start the next preseason with a team? Will basketball dare to recover what has been the reference coach of the last decade in Europe? Although, as Cuspinera affirms, the great virtue of the Basque is that “it is very difficult for him to get nervous.”
