Pau Gasol and the complete list of Spaniards and Latinos

Pau Gasol will be elected as a member of the class of 2023 of the Basketball Hall of Fame, the greatest recognition that a person can obtain in this sport. The player from Sant Boi receives this honor thanks to his successes with the Spanish team and the Los Angeles Lakers of the NBA.

Gasol has gone down in history as one of the most dominant players in FIBA ​​basketball. As a star of the Spanish team, he won three olympic medals (silver in Beijing 2008 y London 2012and bronze in Río 2016), the 2006 World Cup and seven medals in the Eurobasket, including three gold (2009, 2011, 2015).

In addition, during 18 seasons in the NBA he was a two-time champion with the Lakers (which is why the franchise withdrew his jersey), a six-time All-Star and was chosen four times in the ideal quintets of the season.

Pau Gasol joins a 2023 Hall of Fame promotion where they will also be Gregg Popovichhis coach at the San Antonio Spurs and Olympic champion at Tokio 2020 as United States coach; his ex-partner Tony Parker, Dirk Nowitzki, Dwyane Wadeo Becky Hammonwith whom he also met in San Antonio.

Gasol joins the list of Spanish and Latino legends in the Basketball Hall of Fame. With him are Antonio Díaz-Miguel, Pedro Ferrándiz (Spain), Manu Ginóbili (Argentina), John Isaacs (Panama), Oscar Schmidt, Hortencia Marcari and Ubiratan Pereira (Brazil).

Antonio Diaz-Miguel (Spain)

Antonio Diaz-Miguel He came to the bench of the Spanish team to train it for a few days in a friendly tournament in the Netherlands. And he stayed 27 years (1965-1992). More than a quarter of a century in which the Spanish team won its first Olympic medal (the silver in Los Angeles 1984), and three more in the Eurobasket (two silvers in 1971 and 1983, and a bronze in 1991). Although his legacy goes beyond the podiums.

In the 1982 World Cup in Cali, Spain beat the United States for the first time, a feat that gave rise to one of the most famous phrases in Spanish basketball. “You were sleeping, we were dreaming,” wrote the journalist Martín Tello, referring not only to the time difference (the games were in the Spanish dawn), but also to the distance that separated the two basketballs.

Pedro Ferrandiz (Spain)

The only basketball coach to have received the Olympic Order from the International Olympic Committee. Pedro Ferrandiz He dominated (and revolutionized) European basketball during the 15 years he coached Real Madrid. During that time he won four European Cups and 12 Leagues, three of them without losing a single game.

Ferrándiz was also a key figure in bringing the advances of basketball in the United States to Europe, and founded together with the Italian Cesare Rubini (Olympic champion in water polo as a player and Olympic silver medalist in basketball as a coach) the International Association of Basketball Coaches.

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Manu Ginóbili (Argentina)

They called him ‘Manudona’ because his was also a ‘hand of God’. Own Diego Armando Maradona said Manu Ginobili He has been the greatest athlete in the history of Argentina. In his first experience in Europe, he won a Euroleague with Virtus de Bologna in 2001, but the best was yet to come.

As a star of the ‘Golden Generation,’ Ginóbili led the Argentine to silver at the 2002 World Cup and the unforgettable gold medal at Athens 2004, scoring 29 points in the semifinal against the United States. And as a pillar of the San Antonio Spurs along with Tim Duncan and Tony Parker, was key to winning four NBA champion rings.

John Isaacs (Panama)

The first Spanish-speaking player to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, and a window into the early years of professional basketball. John Isaacs He was born in Panama (1915), lived briefly in Cuba and became a legend in the United States during a time when this sport was still segregated. Isaacs was a star of the New York Rens, the best black team in history and champion of the first Professional Basketball World Championship (1939).

Oscar Schmidt (Brasil)

His ability to shoot baskets earned him the nickname ‘Holy Hand’. Oscar Schmidt he was one of the most prolific scorers in basketball history, with almost 50,000 points, and still today the top scorer in the history of the Olympic Games with 1,093 points in five appearances. His is the highest score in a game of the Games (55 points against Spain in Seoul 1988) and the best average in one edition (42.3 points per game, also in 1988).

Schmidt led Brazil to a bronze medal at the 1978 World Cup, and to gold at the 1987 Indianapolis Pan American Games, defeating the United States with 35 points in the second half. It was enough to see him play to know that his idol was Larry Bird.

Hortencia Marcari (Brazil)

The penultimate relay of the Olympic torch at the Rio 2016 Games was carried out by Hortencia Marcari. Or simply Hortencia, as they know her in her country. Another fantastic scorer who led Brazil to be basketball world champion in 1994 and who, months after giving birth (her son, hers, Joao Victor Olivahe would be an Olympic equestrian), he led his team to silver in the Atlanta 1996 Olympic Games. With Hortencia as the leader, Brazil also won a gold (1991), a silver (1987) and a bronze (1981) at the Pan American Games

Ubiratan Pereira (Brazil)

Brazil was crowned basketball world champion in 1963, beating the United States, Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union at home. That year he also won silver at the Pan American Games and the following year, bronze at the Tokyo 1964 Olympic Games. They were the first successes of the international career of Ubiratan Pereirawho would still win three more medals at the World Cups (one silver in 1970, and two bronzes in 1967 and 1978) and two bronzes at the Pan American Games (1975, 1979).

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