At 34, Marc Gasol carries Spain’sWorld Cup hopes

SHANGHAI >> Marc Gasol is 34 years old, which means he’s particularly fond of offseasons.

He didn’t get much of one this year. There’s a very good reason for that — a most unusual and, he thinks, worthwhile opportunity. After helping the Toronto Raptorswin theNBAchampionship in June, Gasol is now looking to lead Spain to a World Cup title in September. And although the 7-foot-1 veteran center’s body may have preferred somemore downtime before the grind of another season begins, Gasol could not pass up this chance.

“It’s a special group of guys,” Gasol said. “It’s always special when you put on this jersey. And I couldn’t leave them hanging. That’swhatmy heart toldme and that’swhat it keeps telling me.”

Gasolwas on the teamthatwon theWorld Cup — then called the world championship — for Spain in 2006, rolling past a Greece teamthat had just beaten the United States in the tournament semifinals. He helped Spain win silver medals at the 2008 and 2012 Olympics, losing both times in the title game to the U.S.

He’s the oldest player on a very seasoned team that will play for Spain in this World Cup. Out of the 12onthefinal roster for coach Sergio Scariolo, eight have celebrated their 30th birthdays already. But it’s also clear that Gasol, even on a roster featuring the likes of Phoenix’sRickyRubio andRealMadrid standout Sergio Llull, is the leader of the bunch.

“It was probably a key move for us, one of the important ones, themost important one,” Scariolo said. “We need somebody to be the guy who you can give the ball in the tough moments, not necessarily for the shot but to make a good play — whether it’s to create a shot for a teammate, to take a shot himself, to draw a foul and be a solid free throw shooter. He’s extremely important and the rest of the players respect him a lot.”

That respect was there before Toronto topped Golden State in six games for the NBA title.

But the ringGasolwill be getting on opening night certainly adds to his legacy.

Among players born outside the United States, Gasol is one of only seven — a list that also includes his older brother Pau Gasol, who would have played in this World Cup had he not gotten injured last season — to have amassedmore than 11,000 points, 6,000 rebounds and 2,700 assists at theNBA level. And when the Raptors added him in a trade last February, their entire makeup seemed to change.

“I think we started passing the ball, our assists startedgoingwayup, we became the No. 1 3-point shooting team in the league because of the extrapasses andthe contagious passing,” said Raptors coach Nick Nurse, who is coaching Canada at the World Cup. “And our team’s sense of who they thought they could become went up.”

The same could ring true for Spain. TheU.S. haswon the last twoWorldCups, though a third consecutive gold in the event — something that no nation has ever accomplished — hardly seems guaranteed. Spain lost to the Americans by nine in an exhibition earlier thismonth in Anaheim, California, a game where neither side was exactly in tournament form.