The Unibox received a little over 14 years ago the now disappeared Akasvayu Girona with the aim of sentencing -in the month of April- his participation in that ACB play-off 2007/2008. Beyond being able to reach the objective -which would not be achieved that day, after falling into theMartin Carpena by 66 to 71 against the people from Girona-, it was a positive game for the typesetters due to the return of Alfonso Sanchezwhich reappeared six months later on a track of basketball after overcoming a serious knee injury.
But all the lights on that day were for the great star of the rival team. In the template of the Catalan team they played Victor Sada, Fernando San Emeterio, Darryl Middleton… and also the one who would be the MVP of that season: Mark Gassol.
The pivot of Saint Boi and Unicaja crossed paths for the last time on April 16, 2008. For the last time… until this coming Sunday. Now, with two projects that are nothing like those bygone days (andl Basketball Girona it is even a new club), Catalans and typesetters will meet again 14 years later.
The people of Malaga, under the command at that time of Sergio Scarioloyou know what it’s like to succumb to the superstar version of Marc Gasol. On that thirtieth day he endorsed the green box typesetter 18 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists to add a PIR of 35 in 31:59 minutes and thus surpass in the classification the Uniboxafter coming back in a second part that was not brilliant for the locals.
The truth is that more than a decade will have passed since that game, but the player and now president of the Basketball Girona He is still the same leader and protagonist as then.
And it is that after these first three days of the Endesa League 2022/2023, it is the second most valued player (23.3), the fourth that makes the most free throws per game (5.3) and the fifth that receives the most fouls. Despite the fact that his team is still looking for the first victory in the elite, his center has already made it clear that, despite his age, his talent remains intact: 21 points against real Madrid11 in front of Lenovo Tenerife and 13 before the Monbus Obradoirolast weekend.
What has changed in this Marc Gasol who will face Unicaja next Sunday is his resume, full of milestones on the other side of the Atlantic. His career since then has been meteoric. Despite being drafted by Los Angeles Lakers andn 2007 -position 48-, he debuted in USA the following year with memphis grizzlies and the rest is already history.
Since his arrival on North American soil, he has achieved practically everything in the NBA, both in individual and collective titles: best defender (2012/2013) -he was the first European to achieve it-, Second Best Quintet (2012/2013), Second Best Defensive Quintet (2012/2013), Best Quintet (2014/2015), three times chosen in the all-star (2012, 2015 -where he jumped with his brother Pau– and 2017) and champion with Toronto Raptors (2019). To which we must add that he is the top rebounder in the history of memphis grizzlies.
However, that “only” has been achieved on the other side of the pond. Since Marc said goodbye to the CBA in 2008, has been one of the great responsible for catapulting the level of Spanish basketball to the top of the international podium: 2 silvers in the Olympic Games of Beijing Y London (2008 and 2012), 1 gold in the Japan World Cup (2019), 2 golds in the eurobasketball (2009 and 2011) and 2 bronzes in the eurobasketball (2013 and 2007).
In addition, the Higher Sports Council granted him the Silver Medal of the Royal Order of Sports Merit and in 2015 received together with Pau Gasol the Princess of Asturias Award for Sports.
After conquering his ring from the NBA, its weight in the different franchises was dropping considerably. After the championship he signed a season forr Los Angeles Lakers -the franchise that had precisely drafted him- and “ended” in September 2021 in memphis grizzlies, where he was cut without playing a single game.
From there, he took what will be one of the most important steps of his career. With the Basketball Girona in LEB Gold, Marc Gasol he returned to his team with the clear objective of taking him to the ACB for the first time. He did not do it as the first classified, which was the Granada Foundationbut he did do it by beating the Movistar Students in the playoff final for promotion to the league Endesa.
That April 16, 2008, Unicaja faced a young man with a promising future in the world of basketball. This coming Sunday, October 16, 2022, the Malaga club will play with what is already one of the most important figures in the history of national basketball, a legend. Mark Gassol, trained by Aito Garcia Reneses, will play again against the Malaga team. Surely he will be one of the key players in what happens from 12:30 p.m. sports Center of Fontajau.
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Marc Gasol, 14 years later