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louis scola He is one of the great basketball legends globally. His career marks it like that. Olympic champion and twice world runner-up with the Argentine team, 10 seasons in the NBA after a successful stint at Tau Cerámica in Spain and second highest scorer in World Cup history, behind the Brazilian Oscar Schmidt. With these endorsements, the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) awarded him a special distinction.
The 42-year-old former player, who is currently the majority shareholder of Varese in Italy and is beginning to retrace his new path as an executive, was chosen by FIBA as “Global Ambassador” from World Cup 2023 which will take place from August 25 in the Philippines, Indonesia and Japan and in which it will not have the participation of Argentina, which was eliminated after the defeat against the Dominican Republic in Mar del Plata.
“It is something that gives me joy. Clearly, my career is closely identified and linked to the World Cups. I had the opportunity to be in five and also play many other tournaments. When I retired, I thought about how I was going to miss everything that represents a World Cup, an Olympic Games or an American tournament. The role of ambassador, it is not the same as playing – nothing is the same as playing – but I will not miss the World Cup because I will be there again. I am going to be a participant with a role different from that of a spectator,” Scola said in statements to the official FIBA website.
The great captain that the Argentine national team had and leader in appearances with the Albiceleste will share the privilege with other stars such as the Spanish Pau Gasol and the american Carmelo Anthony. The three will be in the group draw that will take place on April 29 in Manila and will occupy neither more nor less than the role that the deceased had four years ago. Kobe Bryant.
“That Kobe has been the previous ambassador validates the importance of this role and I am very proud to fill the same role as him. It’s tremendous. I’m a big fan of his life story and I have a lot of respect for his career. Unfortunately, an essential person who left us prematurely”, reflected the power forward who made his debut in the National League at Ferro Carril Oeste.
On the other hand, in the interview Scola was asked about the sensations of being outside the playing field (he retired with the National Team at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021): “I transitioned well to being off the pitch, I don’t look the games going crazy to enter to play, that does not happen to me. If a team goes 10-0 and hits a three-pointer that makes them take the lead to finish off the game and the pitch falls, then I say ‘it was good to be a part of that’. Or when I see a player who scores 15 points in a quarter and has such a positive streak, I wonder ‘what would it have been like to be in the stands watching me do that, that in some games I got that kind of production? Was that how it looked?’ But I’m not dying to play or to train”.
At the end, Luis spoke of his heir, Thomas Scolawho already debuted with the Argentine shirt in the South American Sub 15 that was played in Buenos Aires. “It was very crazy to watch. I would see people wearing Scola’s number 4 jersey and my son would tell me ‘look, they have my jersey’ and I would laugh. Being in that tournament was a special moment for me as a father.. Living from the outside an experience that I always had from the inside was something completely different, ”she closed.
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