It was an open secret. Marc Gasol (Barcelona, 1985) had made a decision that no one wanted to hear but that became official this Wednesday. The former NBA star and current president of the Basketball Girona announced his final retirement after a successful professional career that started with Barcelona and ended with the Girona club, passing through Memphis, Los Angeles and Toronto, where he won his NBA championship ring as head of the Raptors. At 39 years old, he has decided to put an end to his sports career to continue linked to basketball in the offices and dedicate more time to the Foundation that he presides with his brother Pau. Accompanied by his family and friends, Juan Carlos Navarro announced his future plans. “It’s time to teach everything I’ve learned.”
«The moment that scared you so much has finally arrived. “And now what?” She explained in a video that served to present the event in Texas cinemas. «If I had continued playing it would have been for the wrong reasons. “It was the right time to leave,” he himself answered after a standing ovation. “It is time to take a step aside, enjoy and give back to basketball what it has given me,” added the center, who did not hide that he had succulents to continue playing: “Despite having cool proposals, the priority was Invest time in family. I’m in no hurry now to say what to do or what will replace basketball. I want to be a better friend, a better son, a better father, a better husband… I want to be more present in everything I do. The proposals have made the decision more difficult for me. We had been preparing the launch of the video for a few weeks, but there were emotional issues about Girona that fooled you. My proposal was to invest my time in my family and in other things.
«The nature of a player is that you are always facing each other. And now I face withdrawal. There is a part of instinct that fights against that decision, but my decision is very thoughtful. So there is no possible fight », he explained about this life choice. «When there comes a moment in your career in which you have pain every day, and it is difficult to face the games, you assume that you are coming to the end. Last year I physically reached my limit. And I already faced them emotionally, trying to enjoy the games at that level, in every field I visited I took mental photos. Against Vitoria I interpreted it as my last game. But summer comes, the pain goes away and the desire comes in. In November I began to make this decision,” he delved into this time of reflection.
The 39-year-old player decides to end his career after a lifetime dedicated to basketball and with a dizzying track record. With the Spanish team he won world gold in 2006 and 2019, and was Eurobasket champion in 2009 and 2011. In the Olympic Games he won silver in Beijing 2008 and London 2012. At the club level, he won the league with Barcelona, the FIBA Eurocup with Akasvayu Girona and the NBA ring with the Toronto Raptors in 2019. And collecting individual recognitions, such as best defender in the NBA in 2013 or inclusion in the best NBA quintet in 2015, after All Stars.
He leaves without pending goals. «I would not change a second of what I have experienced in these twenty years. Not even the ‘shits’. I’ve been very lucky, I feel super lucky. I don’t have any thorn in my side,” he said before giving advice to the new generations: “I would tell them not to be influenced when they tell them that they can’t achieve something. Let them take the risks and have a good time playing basketball. “Let them normalize the defeat.”
«My time as a player ends there, in the NBA, especially after some very strange times with the pandemic. Coming here was with a view to finishing at home and for the issue of the presidency,” he explained. “I am not a player who shows a lot of happiness, if I play I am focused, but I think that because of the meaning and what I have learned, it will be very emotional,” he says about his last participation on the hardwood. «I really liked being with my colleagues. I had enough characteristics to adapt [a la NBA]», although he does not know if his shirt will be retired.
Among his favorite moments: the promotion with Girona. «I am left with the relationship with the people, with whom they have accompanied me, helped and taught me and with whom I want to teach now. Above trophies and medals.
He also talked about his friend Ricky Rubio: «My priority is that he is happy, that he is calm and comfortable wherever he plays. The images that came out smiling already give me all the peace of mind in the world.
2024-01-31 17:21:07
#dont #thorns
