A short trip to the Lakers and then leaves… Marc Gasol did not last long in the NBA after the championship title with the Raptors in 2019. The Spanish international had been tempted by an experience with the defending champion which finally came to an end last season, the Lakers having been eliminated in the first round of the playoffs.
After a long reflection, the little brother of Pau Gasol also felt that it was time to close the NBA parenthesis to return home to take up a new challenge in his heart club, in Girona.
“The door to the NBA is not closed and I know that if I had wanted to continue, I would still be there today. But it was not my priority. My priority was to be in good physical shape and to recover. When you have a physical problem, you can’t be competitive at the highest level, because instead of giving your all, you think about not hurting yourself. It was important to put everything on the table and to be able to start from scratch. This is what we did with my family and now we are going through stages”, he told Marca.
Different trips!
In his role as president / player in Spanish D2, where he has 17 points, 13 rebounds and 30 ratings per game, Marc Gasol is once again flourishing. Daily life is less demanding and allows him to be more with his family, even if the trips are sometimes just as exhausting as in the NBA!
“You travel less, even if the trips are different. Getting to Palencia by bus from Girona is a bit tricky (eight hour journey). These are different trips from what you are used to, but it allows you to experience basketball in a different way, to see other things, to learn”, he added.
Returning to Spain, Marc Gasol finds the basketball he knew when he was younger, and lives again with this carelessness after having complied with the demands of the highest level for so many years, in the NBA and in selection.
“I want to enjoy and live from day to day. We always think of yesterday and tomorrow. It’s hard for us to enjoy training with our teammates. You have to think about today and when the time comes, depending on your condition, you decide. There is no need to make decisions about things that will happen in two or three months. I’m not going to expend energy on it now”, he continued, assuring that although he still had a keen competitive spirit, his priority objective remains to fill the Girona hall in every game.
The NBA is already well behind him, and there is no question for Marc Gasol to look back on those years with nostalgia.
“I’m not very nostalgic and I’m not one to look back and regret things. I try to make decisions, to make the most of them, to live day by day, in the present moment. I think of today for tomorrow. I enjoyed the NBA, I lived it thoroughly. Now, reality is my daily life and I appreciate it very much. It may seem easier, but you don’t quit either. Leading a growing club comes with challenges and a learning process that is not easy”.
