Grizzled vet Gasol a welcome addition in Toronto
You’re going to like Marc Gasol.
Pretty much everybody does. He is smart and funny and self-deprecating and world aware and, not unlike his new boss Masai Ujiri, he’s interested in more than just basketball.
He can shoot better than most Raptors can shoot. And he can pass better than most Raptors can pass. And even slowing at the age of 34, he probably can play defence better than anybody on the Raptors not named Kawhi Leonard, which is not at all surprising considering Leonard and Gasol have a history along with having won the NBA defensive player of the year award in three of the last six seasons.
Know this much about Gasol. He didn’t want to be traded here, he didn’t want to be traded anywhere. He has been a Memphis lifer. When he first arrived in Tennessee, the only English he knew was: “I’m Marc, I like basketball.”
It didn’t matter what was asked, that was the answer. What would you like for dinner? I’m Marc. Anything to declare? I’m Marc. Over time, he learned the language and the game and life in the NBA and he grew into himself, into an all-star and a difference maker and a man of substance and now, after a shockingly active and competitive trade deadline, he is a Raptor.
Last summer, Kawhi Leonard. Now Gasol. A centre to play alongside Leonard and alongside Pascal Siakam, alongside or in rotation with Serge Ibaka. The Raptors have never had four frontcourt players of this kind of quality before. Now it’s up to coach Nick Nurse to figure out exactly where and how all the pieces fit.
For Gasol, the ending in Memphis wasn’t easy, but it sure was emotional. On Tuesday night, he dressed for a game against the Minnesota Timberwolves and then he undressed and didn’t play. The Grizzlies had pulled him from the game, thinking they were about to trade him to Charlotte. But partway through the first half, Gasol got in his uniform, walked to the bench and it was then that the applause began. It got louder and louder at the FedEx Forum. Gasol, taking it all in, took his clenched fist and pounded it by his heart, pulled his uniform top just a little — his way of saying thanks. Thanks for everything.
The Grizzlies have been good, but never great in Gasol’s time in Memphis. Once they made it as far as the Western Conference final, only to lose to Leonard and the San Antonio Spurs. The battles in those games, between Gasol and Leonard, are considered epic. They would fight the way Raptors teams of the past would not fight in playoff games. Now they have a fighter in Gasol, a fighter in Leonard for this one shot — maybe more than one — at an NBA title. Everything with the Raptors begins and ends with Leonard and the future. But now with Leonard and Gasol, now with Ibaka and Kyle Lowry and Siakam, there is so much to be enticed about, so much to be excited for.