When the last NBA games of the day end around 12:30 a.m. in the U.S., former Raptor Marc Gasol is already up at 6:30 a.m. in Girona, a small but picturesque medieval city in Catalonia, Spain, located 100 kilometres north of Barcelona.
He keeps an eye on the NBA games as he prepares to head to the office of Bàsquet Girona, a club he created in 2014 and runs as president.
Gasol played two seasons with the team after ending his tenure in the NBA in 2021.
He enjoys walking around in Girona and its peace, far away from buzzing cities with NBA teams like Toronto.
Still, he also cheered along with the Girona crowd in 2022 with a parade after his current club got promoted to Liga ACB, the top Spanish League, as he did in Toronto in 2019, celebrating the championship ring of the Raptors.
Gasol, who devotes the whole day between the office and the court of Bàsquet Girona, sticks with the same routine every day.
But this past Wednesday, the former Raptors player modified his usual schedule to go to Barcelona.
He had something important to announce in the Catalan capital.
“It’s time to step aside,” he said in a press conference held in Espai Texas, a multicultural building located in Barcelona downtown, on Wednesday, Jan. 31.
The 39-year-old became the first player among that Raptors team, the one that brought the first ring to Toronto in 2019, to retire from basketball.
He was part of the cast of stars that made a difference that season along with Kawhi Leonard, Kyle Lowry, Fred VanVleet, Pascal Siakam and Serge Ibaka.
The Spanish center arrived in Toronto in February 2019 from the Memphis Grizzlies.
The Canadian franchise gave up Jonas Valanciunas, Delon Wright, CJ Miles and a 2024 second-round draft pick to Memphis in exchange for the six foot 11 inches tall player.
Gasol left the Raptors in the 2020 off-season when he signed a two-year contract with the L.A. Lakers.
“Retiring from basketball has been a hard process and a part of myself doesn’t agree with it, but now it’s time to give back everything that it taught me,” he said.
The Defensive Player of the NBA in 2013 was not playing anymore with Bàsquet Girona when he decided not to start the current season in the Spanish league to reflect on his future.
“A part of myself said I still could play, but I really couldn’t. I take it as a natural and necessary step. I struggled to finish last season, my body was exhausted,” Gasol said.
Masai Ujiri, the Raptors president, said Gasol was fundamental in the run for the 2019 championship.
“Marc has a special place in the hearts and memories of Toronto and of Canada. He’s a champion on the court, where his unbelievable vision and masterful defence were key parts of our run to the 2019 title,” Ujiri said in a statement posted in X on Wednesday.
“He’s a champion in life too, with important contributions to communities around the world through the Gasol Foundation,” the executive said.
Gasol is also known for his contribution to the community as he works to prevent childhood obesity through that foundation along with his elder brother, two-time NBA champion Pau Gasol.
The center surprised the basketball world in 2021 when he refused several bids from NBA teams so he could play in the second level of the Spanish League with Bàsquet Girona and lead the team to the top category in 2022.
Gasol made men’s basketball resurge in Girona by creating a new club in 2014, as the previous club, Akasvayu Girona, shut down in 2009 due to financial problems.
Gasol blossomed into an NBA player with Akasvayu Girona after playing in FC Barcelona, as he left the city in 2008 to begin his career in the best league in the world.
Girona fans saw that achievement as a fairy tale starring the 2019 NBA champion as he wanted to give back to the city by founding a new club.
Gasol, a very particular player for his different way of looking at life, said this success is even more important than the ring he won with the Raptors.
“The promotion to Liga ACB was the happiest moment in my career,” he said. “It was such a special moment.”