Malaga, Sep 3 (EFE) .- The Malaga point guard Carlos Cabezas lived his last night as a professional player in front of the Carpena crowd, where he led Unicaja so many nights, and says goodbye to basketball, leaving one last basket against Real Madrid and a legacy which culminated in a tribute at the Costa del Sol Tournament.
It was September 3, 2006 when Carlos Cabezas hung the gold with an unrepeatable generation in the final of the World Cup in Japan against Greece. On September 3, 2021, just fifteen years later, that undisputed base in the national team said goodbye to basketball and did so “fulfilling a dream”, dressed in green and purple, in front of the public that he once made vibrate and with his number 10 retired and at the top of the Unicaja pavilion.
The man from Malaga, who made his debut at Unicaja in 2000 and left nine years later with three titles (Korac Cup, ACB League, King’s Cup), started as a starter against his people along with Jaime Fernández, Bouteille, Abromaitis and Micheal Eric and he was participatory from the beginning, everyone was looking for him and he liked it, with two assists and a triple suspension that was celebrated by the bench, the fans and the protagonist himself.
“I hope I can throw myself some mandarin and that the people of the Carpena enjoy one last time,” he said at the press conference where he announced his retirement. The one from Marbella turned that “mandarin” in front of Llull, the king of mandarins, and the club awarded him with a framed photo of that suspension, his last shot, to round off an evening to remember.
At halftime, Cabezas returned to the center of the court and the club moved him with a video of images of his golden age, political authorities decorated him with various badges and recognitions and ended with a long applause from those present in the pavilion where, already as a legend, he pronounced his last words: “Thank you, because I lived a unique dream.”
Thus closes the circle of a player who shone in Malaga, went to make a career throughout Europe (Khimki, Zaragoza, Baskonia, Fuenlabrada, Murcia, Orleans, Betis, Alba Fehervar) and prolonged his competitive gene emigrating to South American basketball (Guaos de Lara, Regatas Corrientes, Nacional de Montevideo), where he has competed until the age of 40 in a career full of successes, also with the Spain jersey: gold in the 2006 World Cup and in the 2009 Eurobasket and a silver in the 2007 Eurobasket.
After his last two seasons, Uruguay, the land of his paternal family, returned to Malaga to announce the past that it was time to retire, grateful for the gesture of the Malaga club, which allowed him his last 5:30 minutes on an iconic night and was he marches knowing that his number, ten, will be displayed on the roof of the stadium along with five by Berni Rodríguez, two legendary Unicaja players.
The world champion point guard, who has already acknowledged that “he would love” to continue being linked to sports and basketball, said goodbye to the night by photographing himself on the court with his family and friends, already when the lights in the pavilion were turned off, on the night of “Goodbye” from one of the last golden juniors.