Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Lamar Odom, LeBron James, and Kyrie Irving.
Those are the only five players to have won an NBA title and a gold medal, Olympic or world, in the same year. Pippen has done it twice.
It is an exclusive club _ and Marc Gasol is about to join.
Just three months after helping the Toronto Raptors win the NBA championship, Gasol has guided Spain to the gold medal match at the FIBA World Cup. It will be Spain against Argentina, with both nations seeking their second title. Spain won in 2006 when Gasol was a bench player at just 21 years old, and Argentina won the first World Cup in 1950.
“You get so focused on the opponent, the next opponent, doing what it takes to win games that you don’t see the whole picture. It has been excellent. I’m very lucky, ”Gasol said.
“I knew that committing to the national team this summer would not be easy physically,” Gasol said. But it is worth it, and not only because we are in the final match.
Gasol scored 33 points _ his highest total in a FIBA or Olympic tournament in 18 years _ in Spain’s double overtime victory over Australia in the semifinals. He gave up his postseason break from the NBA to be part of this team, a group that did not get a medal at the last World Cup in Spain five years ago, and knows that they may not have many years left on the international stage.
“It is the responsibility to pass that dedication, that loyalty to the team,” said Gasol, who still remembers the excitement when he received invitation letters from the Spanish federation to be part of the youth teams when he was 11 or 12 years old. “Those values that were taught to us for so many years with veteran players, now it is our turn to pass the legacy on to the next generation. And that is not talent, it is commitment ”.
Argentina also has one of those legacy players.
Luis Scola, 39, was part of the team that won gold for the Argentines at the 2004 Olympics _ and has been the best player on his team at this World Cup. He scored 28 points in the semi-final victory against France and, on a team that has spectacular point guards who do not hesitate to pass behind the back in any situation, Scola has been the stabilizing force in the big moments.
“I’m only 27 years old,” said French center Rudy Gobert, praising Scola after the semifinal match. “Maybe when I’m 39 I’ll know the secrets that Scola knows.”
Spain and Argentina are the only undefeated left in the World Cup, each with a 7-0 record. It is the fourth time that the gold medal will be decided on an owner among the undefeated. The others: the United States over Turkey (8-0) in 2010, Spain over Greece (8-0) and Argentina over the United States (5-0) in the first world championship, in 1950.
France play for bronze against Australia on Sunday, with a chance to match their best result. Australia seeks its first world medal. Ap