COUNTRY FIRST FOR GASOL
RAPTORS’ CENTRE WAS HONOURED TO SUIT UP FOR SPAIN SOON AFTER NBA SEASON
LITTLE TIME TO REST BETWEEN NBA AND PLAYING FOR SPAIN
Unlike most Canadian NBA players, playing for his country an honour for Gasol —
Marc Gasol remembers the day the coveted invitation to join Spain’s storied national basketball program arrived in the mail. He was maybe 14 or 15 years old at the time.
“(Me and my friends) were all very excited, and we all called each other on the house phone — we didn’t have any cellphones back then — we all asked our friends if they got the letter, too. We were all so thrilled when we got it,” Gasol said.
The Toronto Raptors centre told the story Tuesday just moments after lifting Spain to a 90-78 victory over Poland and into the semifinals of the FIBA World Cup. Gasol had 10 points, seven assists and at plus-22 had Spain’s best plus/minus.
The Spanish national team has occupied a huge space in Gasol’s heart for the better part of the past two decades. That’s why just a week after the Raptors captured the NBA championship, and Gasol partied like a rock star at the championship parade, the seven-foot-one centre — whose 34-year-old legs clearly could’ve benefited from an extended break — reported for national team duty.
“June 19th to the 26th. That was my week off, and then I had to get ready for this,” said
Gasol. “It’s not easy, it’s not ideal, but we are one game away from a final game, so it’s all worth it.”
Spain’s victory came on the same Shanghai Oriental Sports Center court that only a night earlier had seen Canada’s World Cup campaign end with a loss to Germany in the classification round. Canada, which boasts the second-most players in the NBA behind the U.S., had just two of its 17 NBAers on the invitation list in China in Cory Joseph and Khem Birch.
“Yeah, that’s surprising,” Gasol said.
“It is a sacrifice,” he added. “It’s not easy to give up your off-season when you want to work on stuff, when you want to work on your body, heal your body after a really tough long season. All of a sudden you’re joining the national team and you‘re committed for 10 weeks out of the summer.
“It’s definitely not ideal. But it’s totally worth it, because you only get to do this for so long.”
Spain is unbeaten at the World Cup, steamrolling past Tunisia, Puerto Rico, Iran, Italy and Serbia to earn its quarterfinal berth. They’ll play the winner of today’s quarter-final between Australia and the Czech Republic in the semis.
“It’s a great feeling to be in the top four of the world in such a competitive and demanding competition like this, with so many great teams out,” said Spain’s longtime head coach and Raptors assistant Sergio Scariolo. “I would say it’s a good time to take one day off and rest and enjoy this and then prepare the next one.”