Pau Gasol. The Spanish NBA Star
The famous player from the L.A Lakers, Pau Gasol, was born on the 6th July 1980 in San Boi de Llobregat, in the province of Barcelona. He entered the world of basketball at a very young age, forcing him to give up his Medical studies, since he couldn´t combine them with his life as a professional basketball player.
His debut as a professional was for FC Barcelona´s basketball team when he was just 16 years old, and with this team he was declared champion in the junior category. From that moment on he became a regular player on the Spanish basketball circuit in the younger categories.
From the beginning of his career North American universities noticed him and offered him scholarships to go and play in the USA. His size and coordination attracted the attention of the scouts even within a few minutes of the start of the match. Gasol liked the idea, but decided to stay put in order to achieve more success in Spain.
In the 1999-2000 season Gasol moved up permanently to the ACB league, the highest category in Spanish basketball.
In 2001 the NBA showed an interest in Gasol, which made him eligible for the NBA Draft of that year. He was selected third overall by the Atlantic Hawks, which was at that time the highest place that a foreign player who had not trained in the USA had reached. He was transferred to the Memphis Grizzlies where he played until 2008.
On the 1st February 2008 Gasol was transferred to the Lakers, the team for which he currently plays. On the 15th June 2009 Gasol won the NBA championship ring with the Lakers, being the first Spanish player to achieve this.
Along with his brother Marc Gasol, Pau is one of the fundamental players from a Spanish team. Pau and the rest of his team made basketball important in Spain, after years of real crisis. Spain has become one of the key contenders in the world of basketball, and on top of that, the current team won a silver medal in the Los Angeles Olympic Games.
This team of players ensured that Spain was crowned world basketball champion after winning a gold medal in the World Cup in Japan in 2006.