Gas Gasol is hoping the NBA will make a comeback and have a place in Spain’s Olympic team in Tokyo, the six-time All-Star and two-time NBA champion told ESPN on Wednesday.
Gasol, 40, identifies the Los Angeles Lakers as his dream destination.
“There’s meaning and history,” said Gasol, who won titles with the Lakers in 2009 and 2010 with Kobe Bryant. “I will not lie. It will be very special, and now my brother [Marc] There is even more special. But now I am not in a position to demand much. I don’t have 10 offers on the table. “
Pau’s younger brother, Mark Gasol, 46, signed a two-year, 5.25 million deal with the Lakers last month.
Pau Gasol has not appeared in any sport since March 2019 and has since undergone two surgeries to repair a strained fracture in the navicular bone in his left leg, he told ESPN. Doctors first detected a stress response in the fall of 2018, when Gasol was starting his third season with the San Antonio Spurs, he said.
Gasol and his agents recently discussed training camp deals with some NBA teams, but Gasol chose to do more conditioning before seriously engaging in negotiations, he said. He is training in Northern California, where he lives with his wife, Catherine McDonnell and their 3-month-old daughter, as he hopes to play more than a proud coach again in the NBA.
“I want an opportunity to contribute – for what I think is necessary,” Gasol said. “Not just there. I’m not who I am. I want to enjoy it, and the players usually have fun playing.”
The humor level of the Lakers in the reunion of gasoline is unclear. Gasol has not played 5-on-5 since undergoing surgery, he said. Gasol said he has set up 2 on-2 games with local players, including a former Stanford player and an NBA team employee who spends se fences in the two areas.
Gasol has arranged for workout partners to receive weekly coronavirus testing and wear masks during contact drills, he said. Between sessions, he urged his workout partners to be vigilant about social distance, wearing masks and other protective measures. It was difficult to get ahead of a few workout partners during the epidemic.
“It’s not like we’re living in a bubble,” Gasol said.
Still, the full-contact exercise is a long way from where gasol rehabilitation began in 2019 after two procedures. At first, he could barely walk. He had to strengthen it with basic exercises: curling his toes around a towel placed on the floor and then using his toes to lift the pen and put it down several times continuously, he said.
He walked towards the walking king boots and then walked on a soft surface like grass and sand.
“There were good days and then hard days where you say, ‘Is this really worth it? Maybe time is running out,’ Gasol said.
The Gasol brothers traded for each other in 2008, when the Memphis Grizzlies accepted the big Gasol from the Lakers for a package – widely raised at the time – including Mark, who was playing a foreign game at the time.
Pa Gas Gasol tried to persuade Grizzlies management to draft the mark in 2007, once the Lakers selected him 48th to trade it. When the Grizzlies exchanged gasoline seven months later, a member of the Memphis management team joked with Pau, “We finally got it. [Marc], Pow! Thanks, Pow! ” Elder Gasol remembered. “I said, ‘Well, that’s not exactly how I imagined it.’ “
The brothers discussed where Mark would sign during his most recent free-agency period.
“He had a lot of teams that were interested,” Pau Gasol said of his brother. “The one he valued the most was his chance to win a second championship. Playing for the Lakers – it’s the kind of unique franchise. It’s a lifelong opportunity, and being the first brother to play for the Lakers is very special to us.”
Gasol added, “It would be incredible if I could join the team at any time right where it’s happening.”
Gasol also wondered if he would enjoy playing in any kind of bubble environment that would take him away from his wife and their daughter, Elizabeth Gianna Gasol, whose middle name Gasol and McDonnell chose as a tribute to Bryant and his late 13-year career. . Elder daughter, Gianna.
But Gasol is determined to take another shot at the NBA. He may have spoken before ending his career with FC Barcelona, where he starred before coming to the United States, but has consistently said he would prefer to stay in the NBA.
After that, the 2021 Olympic Loom took place in Tokyo. Gasol has played for the Spanish national team in four consecutive Olympics, helping him win silver medals in 2008 and 2012 and bronze in 2016. Gasol was injured when the Spanish FIB won the Basketball World Cup last year.
Gasol said it would be extraordinary to be able to play five Olympics.
Once he retires, Gasol will be interested in working on the NBA team in some capacity, he said. He’s not ready for that yet.
“I’d love to be on the NBA roster again at some point – and it wouldn’t be far off now,” Gasol said.
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