Marc Gasol revolutionizes Girona with his return as player-president

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Marc Gasol will continue his career as a player in the ranks of Girona basketball. The 36-year-old center from Barcelona, ​​one of the great names in Spanish sport, unveiled on Wednesday one of the least intriguing questions in the recent history of sport. From the moment the Lakers confirmed last September the end of the contractual relationship, the return of Marc Gasol The club he founded in 2014 seemed the most real possibility over hypothetical offers to continue in the NBA and the interest of Barça, made public by Juan Carlos Navarro, so that he would wear a blaugrana again.

“I am very excited to be here. I’m really looking forward to doing what I like the most, which is playing basketball and doing it here, in Girona, a city with which I have a very special relationship “, he assured Marc, in a massive act with fans (around 2,000 in Fontajau), in which he appeared with the number 33, the number that will be worn by the team, while a graffiti artist wrote on a mural on the ‘Bentornat’ stage.The club wants to shoot its list of members, which is currently numbered at a thousand.

President and player

“I have received a lot of support these days, walking through the city and I am eager to return all this affection in events like today and also in games. We are a very young club, wanting to grow, and to contribute in the territory that is the most important thing, “he added Marc Gasol in the presence of a hundred players from the base of the club, which has about twenty teams in lower categories, three senior teams, in addition to 3×3 teams and wheelchair basketball.

Marc Gasol He explained that from the moment he decided to continue playing, his only firm option was Girona and he no longer considered the possibility of returning to Barça, as his friend had offered him. Navarro. “If it hadn’t been Girona, it would have been el Barça. In the conversations I have had with Juan Carlos, I spoke with a friend, not with the sports director, and I always conveyed my situation to him, because I was talking with a friend, not with the sports director. I did not give him the right to think that he could go, because it did not seem fair to me & rdquor ;, clarified the player, to ensure that his environment has assumed the decision as normal. “Those who know me are not surprised by the decision I have made because they know how I feel. Having this opportunity to play here and not taking advantage of it was something that I did not conceive & rdquor ;, affirms Marc, who will have to assume the double role of president and player, and who will not have any problem with the transition that represents going from playing in the Lakers and in the best league in the world to do it in Girona in the Second Division. “I am also excited to live this experience, although it is not as glamorous as the NBA, but all of that is enjoyed & rdquor ;.

The challenge of the ACB

With a splendid career in which he has fulfilled almost all his dreams (NBA champion with the Raptors, double world champion, double Olympic medalist and double champion of Europe with the national team among other achievements), Gasol You think you have nothing more to prove and you want to spend more time with the family you have formed with Cristina Blesa, with whom he has two children (Julia, 7 years old, Luca, of four) and to close his stage in basketball in a personal project like Bàsquet Girona, which will not require so much dedication (a trip out every 15 days). The objective that is set in the medium term is promotion to the ACB, to return, in his words, a part of what he received in his first and transcendental stage in Girona. His debut will be on December 3 at home against Peñas Huesca.

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Despite his temporary removal from the courts since the Tokyo Games, where he said goodbye to the national team while his brother, Marc has not neglected and has maintained his training routine with the idea of ​​getting ready until the moment of his return. In these three months, he has participated in the team’s training sessions and has recovered the point of form to take the step forward. “I still have a little left to be ready,” he admits.

His return to the courts occurs at a delicate moment for him Basketball Girona, which is in the queue of the LEB Oro, the second division of Spanish basketball. The Girona team is the 15th out of 18 teams and has only two victories for seven defeats, which it has added consecutively, which has led it to dismiss the coach. Carles marco for the one who is looking for a replacement.



Reference-www.elperiodico.com

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