In today's NBA, there are a plethora of foreign born NBA players that are superstars. Many were inspired by players from previous eras such as Dirk Nowitzki and Manu Ginobili. One of the most underrated foreign players came from that same era in 2-time NBA champion Pau Gasol. Gasol was one of the most skilled players in the NBA in his prime as he was a 7'1'' power forward with guard skills. He had great post moves and could pass nearly as good as a point guard. Pau Gasol is a basketball legend not just for his NBA accomplishments but his achievement playing for his home country of Spain as well.
Pau Gasol was born in Barcelona, Spain on July 6, 1980 and first played basketball professionally for FC Barcelona. He developed into to one of the best players in the Spanish ACB league and led FC Barcelona to the Spanish National Cup championship game in 2001. FC Barcelona was victorious and Gasol was named MVP of the tournament. After his successful season in the ACB league where he averaged 12.4 points and 5.8 rebounds per game he declared for the NBA draft. He was selected 3rd overall in the 2001 NBA draft by the Atlanta Hawks but was immediately traded to the Memphis Grizzlies in exchange for Shareef Abdur-Rahim.
Gasol had an excellent rookie season for the Grizzlies as he averaged. 17.6 points and 8.9 rebounds per game. He made history by being the first foreign born player to win the NBA rookie of the year award. In just his sophomore season, he became the Grizzlies leading scorer averaging 19 points per games and played 82 games for the 2nd consecutive season. Gasol showed the Grizzlies he was an excellent player to build around and led them to the playoffs the next 3 seasons. Unfortunately, the Grizzlies were unable to build enough talent around Gasol and were swept in the first round of the playoffs each year.
In his fifth season, he made his first All-Star team as a reserve center for the western conference team. He made history as the first Spanish player and the first Grizzles player to be named an All-Star. This was not the last time he made franchise history this season as he became the franchise's all time leading rebounder by grabbing his 3,072nd rebound in a March 24th game against the New York Knicks. He made even more history with the franchise in the 06-07 season by accomplishing several franchise records. That season, he became the Grizzlies all time leader in field goals made, minutes played, and free throws attempted. The most significant record occurred in a matchup against the Toronto Raptors on March 7th. Gasol surpassed Shareef Abdur Raheem as the Grizzlies' all-time leading scorer.
In the 07-08 season, Pau Gasol's career took a dramatic shift as the Memphis Grizzlies decided to trade him to the Los Angeles Lakers. Not often do you see a franchise player get traded in his prime but, it did wonders for Gasol's career. He finally was playing for a contending team in a big market and able to team up with one of the greatest players of all time in Kobe Bryant. Gasol's impact on the Lakers garnered immediate success as the Lakers finished with the best record in the west. In his first playoff game as a Laker, he made his presence dropping 36 points, 16 rebounds, 8 assists and 3 blocks. Gasol won his first playoff series of his career with a series sweep against the Denver Nuggets. The Lakers ended up making it all the way to the NBA finals where they matched up against their archrival Boston Celtics. Gasol was matched up against the '08 defensive player of the year in Kevin Garnett. The physicality of Garnett and the Boston frontline frustrated Gasol the majority of the series holding him to just 14.7 points per game in the finals. Los Angeles lost in the Finals Boston in 6 games culminated by a 131-92 loss in game 6. Despite the disappointing finals loss Gasol had an excellent playoff run averaging 16.9 points and 9.3 rebounds
In his 2nd year as a Laker, he made his second all star game and for the season averaged 18.9 points, 9.6 rebounds per game. He helped the Lakers to a 65-17 record and were once again the 1st seed in the west. The Lakers found themselves back in the NBA finals this time against the Orland Magic led by Dwight Howard. Gasol and the Lakers redeemed themselves from last years loss to the Celtics by defeating the Magic in 5 games, earning Gasol his first NBA championship.
Early in the 2009-10 season, coming off his first NBA Championship win the Lakers rewarded Gasol with a 3-year extension worth $64.7 million. Gasol responded by earning his third all star appearance with another great regular season averaging 18.3 points and 11.3 rebounds per game. The Lakers would once again finish with the best record in the west and made it all the to way finals for the second straight season. This time, Gasol played much better against a tough veteran Celtics team as he averaged 18.6 points and 11.8 rebounds per game. He capped it off scoring 19 points and grabbing 18 rebounds in a decisive game 7 win. With this win, the Lakers were now a dynasty winning back to back championships and Gasol earning his 2nd ring.
Next season, Gasol made his third staight all star team and made the All-NBA second team for the first time in his career. He basketball brilliance had become routine at this point in his career as it was his third year in a row averaging at least 18 points and 9 rebounds per game. Unfortunately, he couldn't maintain that same level of play as he averaged just 13 points per game. The 2-time defending champion did not fare well as a team either as they were swept by the eventual champion Dallas Mavericks.
Over the next couple years, the Lakers roster looked far different from its championship roster as Lamar Odom, Derek Fisher and Andrew Bynum were all eventually traded. Kobe and Pau became the co-captains of the Lakers in the 2011-12 season. In the 12-13 season, the Lakers would once again have championship expectations following the acquisition of Dwight Howard. However, the season did not go according to planned as their was a coaching change just 5 games into the season. The Lakers as team suffered various injuries including Gasol, who dealt with plantar fasciitis and knee tendinitis. Despite his struggles, Gasol did manage to hit a milestone this season as he scored his 15,000th career point in a win against the Houston Rockets on November 18th, 2012.
The 2013-14 season would end up being his last with the Lakers as Gasol would become a free agent after the season. Gasol had a solid averaging 17.4 points and 9.7 rebounds per game but the Lakers struggled this season due to numerous injuries including Kobe Bryant who played just 6 games.
On July 18th, 2014 Gasol signed with the Chicago Bulls, when he was introduced he stated how going to the Bulls would be the best for him. That statement ended up being true as Gasol has he returned to his all star form and averaged 18.5 points per game and a career high 11.8 rebounds. He had a career high scoring performance this season dropping 46 points in a win against the Milwaukee Bucks. He finished the season with a league high 54 double-doubles in the season finale against the Atlanta Hawks.
Gasol, now age 35 and in his 14th NBA season continued to play excellent basketball making his 6th and final All-Star team of his career. He averaged 16.5 points and 11 rebounds per game this season and near the end of the season had a significant career milestone. On April 2, he grabbed his 10,000th rebound making him just the 38th NBA player to achieve such a feat. Reaching 10,000 rebound plateau also made him 38th player ever to record both 10,000 points and rebounds for their career.
The next couple seasons of his career were spent with the San Antonio Spurs where at this point in his career he was far from his prime but still continued to pile up the career milestones. On April 12, 2017 he recorded his 20,000th career point becoming just the 2nd European player to do so after Dirk Nowitzki. The following season, Gasol became the 34th player in NBA history to play 40,000 career minutes.
After a buyout agreement with the Spurs near the end of the 2018-19 season he was picked up by the Bucks where he played just 3 games due to ankle and knee injuries. On July 25, 2019, he signed with the Portland Trail Blazers but was later waived without playing a game for them. This did not yet spell the end of the legendary Spaniard's career as on On February 23, 2021, he returned to FC Barcelona. In his final professional basketball season, he won the ACB championship with Barcelona and made the Euroleague Final. On October 5, 2021, Gasol officially announced his retirement from professional basketball.
Pau Gasol's legendary career both in the NBA and his national team success makes him a 1st ballot Hall of Famer. Still, with the early part of his career spent on the Grizzlies and the championship success on the Lakers often focused on the greatness of Kobe Bryant, Gasol's individual greatness is highly underrated. Arguably no one appreciated Gasol's talent and skillset more than his teammate and friend, the late Kobe Bryant who once said "You'd be hard-pressed to find a big [man] with his skill set in the history of the game." His refined and unique offensive skillset along with his often overlooked defensive prowess makes him one of the most skilled players ever to play the game.
Source: NBA Europe YouTube Channel
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