BARCELONA-. The pivot Spanish Marc Gasol announced this Wednesday that hang up your sneakers after two decades in the basketball elite, in a press conference in Barcelona.
“It is time to step aside and transmit everything that basketball has taught me and what it has given me,” said Marc, who follows in the footsteps of his brother Pau, who retired in October 2021.
The Spanish center explained the process of his departure from the fields in a video at the Cine Texas in Barcelona, where he answered questions from journalists.
“I had to do it, if I continued playing it could have some serious consequences,” said Marc Gasol, who still had offers.
“The proposals have made the decision more difficult for me,” said the 39-year-old former player, who will continue to be linked to basketball as president of Girona.
Gasol admitted that his decision has been the result of “a long and hard process” after which he will now be able to dedicate himself more to his family.
“I want to be a better father, a better husband, a better friend. Basketball makes you isolate yourself many times and not be present as you should,” he said.
Gasol leaves basketball after two decades in which he managed to emerge from the long shadow of his brother Pau to carve his own successful path.
His record includes an NBA championship ring with the Toronto Raptors, as well as two world championships with the Spanish team (2006, 2019).
As a Spanish international, he also won two Olympic silver medals (Beijing 2008 and London (2012) and two European Championships (Poland 2009) and Lithuania (2011), among other distinctions.
Source: AFP
