Former player with stints at the Memphis Grizzlies, Toronto Raptors and Los Angeles Lakers announces he will step away from the court for good
After 20 seasons playing at the highest level of basketball, the Spaniard Marc Gasol announced this Wednesday, 31, his retirement from the sport. Champion of NBA in the 2018/19 season for Toronto Raptorsthe pivot was playing for Bàsquet Girona, the team he founded in Spain. O Memphis Grizzlieswho had the athlete in his squad for 11 years, is considering retiring his number 33 shirt.
The announcement of the player’s retirement was made in a multicultural space in the city of Barcelona, where Marc was born. Alongside his family, the now former athlete put an end to his career, after more than 20 years since his first professional games. “It’s time to step away. One part has been decided. It’s been a difficult process and there’s a part of me that doesn’t agree with it, but now is the time to pay back everything they taught me. A part of me still says you can play… but no, no. I approach this as if it were the natural and necessary step. Last year it was very difficult for me to finish the season, my body was at its limit. In November we sat down and started to finalize this decision”said the former pivot.
Since 2021, Gasol has played for Bàsquet Girona, a team he founded there in 2014. At the club, he accumulated the roles of player and president. After his retirement from the court, he is thinking about continuing in management. “I’m in no rush to know what I’ll do now, I want to dedicate myself to being with my family and continuing to lead the club. It was time now (for retirement)”he stated.
Barcelona was the first professional club of Marc Gasol’s career, in 2003, where he stayed for three seasons, until closing with the GB Gironaalso from Catalonia. The pivot stayed with the club until 2008, when he was drafted into the NBA. He was selected by Los Angeles Lakersbut was soon traded to the Memphis Grizzlies, in a package that included his brother, Pau Gasol. The Spaniard stayed on the team Tennessee for 11 seasons, when he signed with the Toronto Raptors. For the Spanish national teamwon two Basketball World Cups and the EuroBasket.
Source: sportbuzz
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