Lakers News: Former LA Center Living It Up As Player-Owner For International Team

He does it all!

Whenever Los Angeles Lakers fans think of the name Gasol, Pau obviously comes to mind right away. He was one of the greatest big men to ever suit up for the purple and gold and I do not say that lightly as he joined the likes of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Shaquille O'Neal to bring the city multiple championships. The late, great Kobe Bryant has been very honest about he wouldn't have won either of the two rings in 2009 and 2010 without the support that Gasol brought.

However, it's very easy to forget that his younger brother Marc Gasol was also a member of the Lakers on two different occasions. He was first drafted by LA's front office back in 2007 but actually got traded in a blockbuster deal for Pau. Marc then had a very successful career with the Memphis Grizzlies and even won a championship during his second season with the Toronto Raptors. 

But in his final season in the NBA, Marc found his way to the City of Angels once again as he wanted to help the Lakers win their second straight ring in 2021. However, the fit wasn't beautiful and age got the best of him as appeared in just 52 games and averaged five points and four boards in 19 minutes per game. 

Even though his role with the Lakers didn't pan out the way he thought it would, that hasn't stopped him from forging out a successful career with Basquet Girona, a basketball club in Span, as he is not only a player but also an owner.

Marc Gasol put on a passing clinc tonight pic.twitter.com/9EuKuT3oPr

— pickuphoop (@pickuphoop) December 14, 2020

Slam magazine uncovered a number of key details surrounding the process of how this came to be.

"This experiment began in 2014, when Gasol founded the Bàsquet Girona youth academy. The team came next, in 2017, after its prior iteration had gone belly-up under different ownership. Gasol joined as a player in 2021 following his NBA retirement. Immediately, he played hero, adding two more distinctions to his title: founder-owner-president-player-

reigning champ-reigning MVP

. (On LinkedIn, he is simply “President, Bàsquet Girona.” Pau is Vice President, a job he serves remotely.)"

(Via Slam Online)

Gasol also touched on how he had to do some deep reflecting after his final season in LA.

“I’m a person that looks in the mirror,” he says. During the ’20-21 season, Gasol had been a 36-year-old reserve on the Lakers, donning purple and gold in “awkward” fashion by his own admission. Still, he labored over whether to return to Girona. “We tend to remember only the good things about places,” he says. “Sometimes those memories are better to stay untouched.”

(Via Slam Online)

We love to see Gasol staying in touch with his basketball roots!

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