Little could Marc Gasol have suspected that on September 8, 2006, the day he passed the medical examination with theAkasvayu Girona and I was doing my first training there, I was starting to write a love story that still lasts. Little could he imagine, but so could the fans, who just saw the arrival of the younger brother of Pau Gasol, 21 years old, as another element of rotation in a squad full of top-level figures. In that team he led pinchGasol had to “compete” in the inner game with giants like Dalibor Bagaric, Gregor Fuckaan emerging German Gabriel or even Darryl Middleton. For the first time outside his comfort zone, without his brother’s shadow, away from Barça, Marc began to write his story. A story of a legend, which is also the story of half life, eighteen years, a majority, of love for the city that saw him explode, and that he was able to return to the ACB on June 19, 2022 after of 14 years of crossing the desert by the express desire of the pivot of Sant Boi. Not all NBA stars would have agreed to play in the second division (LEB Or) just for a sentimental matter. And he did. And he revived a team that was headed for relegation to Plata until taking him to the elite that same day he also returned to First the football team
Thanks, Marc! pic.twitter.com/s9CReJK153
— Basketball Girona (@BasquetGirona) January 31, 2024
When Gasol arrived in Girona, there were many open fronts on the table. On the one hand, the club wanted to get out of the way Roberto Dueñas, with whom Pesic did not count. It was a series that lasted for weeks and would not be resolved until October. The other hot topics were the possible arrival of Milan Gurovic (Red Star), which ultimately did not materialize, and the return to the city of Darryl Middleton, which was signed. Marc Gasol made his debut with the Akasvayu with just a couple of training sessions. It was in a friendly against theBerlin Dawn a Saint Hilary on December 10, 2006 (90-77), with 13 credited points. Eight days later the club, the old one CB Gironawon the second title in its history: the Catalan leaguein Fontajau, against Barça (51-73), opening a season that would culminate with the FIBA Cupthe third continental competition, in that final against theAzovmash Ukrainian in Fontajau. In the league and the Copa there weren’t too many options, neither that first season in Girona nor in the following one, with Pedro Martinez of coach Eliminated in quarters. Of course, the 2007/08 academic year reached the final of the ULEB Cup, the second continental division. The youth would be the executioner.
On June 23, 2008, Akasvayu was mortally wounded due to financial problems that would end up certifying his death a month later, on St. James of 2006. On that night of revelry, Marc Gasol announced that he was leaving for the NBA, in the Grizzlies. But despite starting a long road full of successes that culminated in the ring with the Toronto Raptorsnever stopped being linked to Girona.
At the outset, in 2009, he organized a campus in Platja d’Aro. A year later, on June 27, 2010, he participated in a match Palau to claim the survival of professional men’s basketball in difficult times for Saint Joseph, which had taken over from the defunct CB Girona, due to financial issues. That club also ended up making water and maybe that’s why he decided to found one of his own. On May 16, 2014, he presented himself at Municipal Theatre he CEB Marc Gasol, the embryo of the current Basketball Girona. A few months later, in September, it was in the pavilion of Montfalgars to present the first teams of that project which, in 2017, with Quim Costa of coach, he would debut a senior team in the the EBA leagueto later jump to LEB Plata, LEB Or, and ACB, with the current denomination.
Everything happened with Marc Gasol collecting records and accolades in the NBA until September 2021 the Lakers they traded him back to the Grizzlies, where it had all started, with the expectation that this would be the first step in ending his time in the USA to return home That was the second year of Basketball Girona in LEB Or and, at the beginning, with Carles Marco of coach, the results did not match. Rumors about a possible incorporation grew bigger and bigger, although the interest of Barça also transcended. But Gasol, a man of his word, wanted to fulfill that promise to retire to Girona, and he fulfilled it. On December 3 he (re)debuted in Fontajau against theNotch, in a duel where he already made it clear that he would end up being decisive: 19 points, 16 rebounds and 39 ratings to lead a clear victory (89-47) with the Aragonese guests from Pedra. with Jordi Sargatal coach, who had relieved Marco a few weeks earlier, and the president and founder on the court, Girona went from a candidate for relegation to a clear aspirant for promotion. The direct got away, but not what was offered through the qualifiers of play-off. First he fell A Coruñathen the Lleidaand finally theStudents in the final played in Fontajau on June 19, 2022.
Marc Gasol confirms retirement
With the city back in the ACB, from where it had disappeared in the summer of 2008, Marc Gasol decided to play one more season. So last year it was one of the outstanding pieces of the blog ofReal, although the physical problems were increasingly bothering him. He reached the end of the course with very fair gas, but, despite this, he contributed powerfully to the permanence. In the end that match against him Baskonia last year’s May 24 was his farewell. And it did have a bit of a farewell flavor, with the family, and friends like Ricky Rubio i Victor Sadain the front row.
Little more had been known about Gasol since that game. In August, in an interview with the club’s media, he said that it was costing him more than he expected to make the decision to retire, and that the only thing that was clear to him was that he would not start the season. And until today. The president and founder of Basketball Girona is already officially a legend, a former player. What does not expire is his idyll with the city. “Spring after winter”, as he defined what Girona represented for him in the program The guest of TV3 that presented Albert Om. It was December 9, 2013, it had been five years since I had left the city for Memphis, but it didn’t hurt him to be honest again: “for a kid who had always been at Barça, having to leave at the age of 21 is hard, but in Girona I discovered a new world. There I got rid of my thorn, and I had a great communion with the club and the city». Last Monday Marc Gasol was 39 years old and the commitment remains intact. Now only focused on offices.
2024-01-31 18:32:01
#European #title #return #ACB
