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* 2× [[All-NBA]] Third Team selection (2009, 2010)
* 2× [[All-NBA]] Third Team selection (2009, 2010)
* 3× [[NBA All-Star Game|NBA All-Star]] (2006, 2009, 2010)
* 3× [[NBA All-Star Game|NBA All-Star]] (2006, 2009, 2010)
* 4* {[voted Better than Pau Gasol by Che Diz...}]


===European Player of the Year awards===
===European Player of the Year awards===

Revision as of 21:15, 20 May 2010

Template:Catalan name

Pau Gasol
Gasol with the Lakers
No. 16 – Los Angeles Lakers
PositionPower forward/center
Personal information
Born (1980-07-06) July 6, 1980 (age 44)
Barcelona, Spain[1]
NationalitySpanish
Listed height7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)
Listed weight250 lb (113 kg)
Career information
NBA draft2001: 1st round, 3rd overall pick
Selected by the Atlanta Hawks
Playing career1999–present
Career highlights and awards
Stats at NBA.com Edit this at Wikidata
Stats at Basketball Reference Edit this at Wikidata
Pau Gasol
Medal record
Representing  Spain
Men's Basketball
Summer Olympics
Silver medal – second place 2008 Beijing National Team
FIBA World Championship
Gold medal – first place 2006 Japan National Team
FIBA European Championship
Bronze medal – third place 2001 Turkey National Team
Silver medal – second place 2003 Sweden National Team
Silver medal – second place 2007 Spain National Team
Gold medal – first place 2009 Poland National Team

Pau Gasol i Sáez (pronounced IPA [ˈpaʊ̯ gəˈzɔɫ]) (born July 6, 1980 in Barcelona,[1]Spain) is a Spanish professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was born to Marisa Sáez and Agustí Gasol, and he spent his childhood growing up in Spain. Gasol was drafted by the Atlanta Hawks in the 2001 NBA Draft, but his rights were traded to the Memphis Grizzlies, with whom he won the NBA Rookie of the Year Award. He currently holds the Memphis Grizzlies franchise records for career games played, minutes played, field goals made and attempted, free throws made and attempted, offensive, defensive, and total rebounds, blocked shots, turnovers, and points.[2] After seven seasons with the team, Gasol was traded to the Lakers on February 1, 2008. His younger brother, Marc Gasol is also a professional basketball player for the Memphis Grizzlies of the NBA.

Biography

Early career

Gasol began playing basketball with his school team called Alvirne, and he eventually signed with Cornellà.[3] When he was sixteen, he began playing for Barcelona's junior team.[3] He also won both the 1998 Albert Schweitzer Tournament and the 1998 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship.[4] After moving to the senior team of Barcelona, Gasol played just eleven total minutes in the 1998-99 season, and averaged under 15 minutes per game in the next year.[4] However, in his final season in Europe, Gasol averaged 11.3 points and 5.2 rebounds in just under 24 minutes per game. Barcelona was victorious in the Spanish National Cup championship game in 2001, and Gasol was named Most Valuable Player.[4] After entering the NBA Draft, Gasol was selected third overall in the first round in the 2001 NBA Draft by the Atlanta Hawks,[5] who traded his draft rights to the Memphis Grizzlies in exchange for Shareef Abdur-Rahim.[6]

2001–2005

Gasol battles for a jump ball vs the Los Angeles Lakers during the 2003–04 NBA season.

In Gasol's first season with the Grizzlies, he won the Rookie of the Year Award,[7] and was named to the All-Rookie first team.[8] He averaged 17.6 points and 8.9 rebounds per game, and was also the only team member to play in all 82 games that season.[9] Gasol led the team in scoring (19.0 points per game) in his second year with the team, and for the second year in a row, played in all 82 games.[9] Gasol missed the first game of his career, during his third year, with a foot injury on April 5, 2004, which snapped his string of 240 consecutive games played.[10] He grabbed the 1,500th rebound of his career on November 12, 2003, against the Orlando Magic and scored his 3,000th career point on October 31, 2003, against the Boston Celtics.[11] Despite having 22 points in Game 4 against the San Antonio Spurs, the highest by a Memphis players in the playoffs, his team was eliminated in the first round, not winning a single game against San Antonio. This was both the Grizzlies and Gasol's first trip to the NBA Playoffs.[12] He scored 31 points and blocked four shots on January 11, 2005, against the Indiana Pacers to earn 5,000 points and 500 blocks in his career, becoming the 10th fastest player to reach 5,000 points/500 blocks since 1973-74.[11] He also helped his team make it to the playoffs for the second time in his career, but they were eliminated in the first round and did not win a single game against the Phoenix Suns.[13]


2005–2006

Gasol was with the Memphis Grizzlies from 2001–2008 until he was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers during the 2007–08 season.

In his fifth year with the team, he became the franchise’s all-time leading rebounder on March 24 against the New York Knicks when he grabbed his 3,072nd rebound in a Grizzlies uniform.[11] He made 29 consecutive free throw attempts from January 24 to January 28, tying the second best mark in Grizzlies history, including two straight games going 12-12 from the line, tying the best single-game mark in franchise history.[11] Gasol and the Grizzlies returned to the playoffs for the third time in his and his team's history. Once again, they were eliminated in the first round and did not win a single game against the Dallas Mavericks.[14]

First All-Star Game

On February 9, 2006, making his first appearance, Gasol was selected to play in the 2006 NBA All-Star Game in Houston, Texas as a reserve center for the Western Conference. At the time, he was one of four players ranked among Western Conference forwards in the top ten in points, rebounds, assists and blocked shots.[15] He was the first Spanish basketball player as well as the first Grizzlies player to ever make it to the All-Star Game.[15]

2006–2007

Gasol missed the first 23 games of the 2006-07 NBA season due to a broken foot suffered near the end of Spain's semifinal win over Argentina in the 2006 FIBA World Championship.[11] He would go on to be named Most Valuable Player of the tournament, which Spain won.[11] He had a season-high 34 points (most by a Grizzly that season), and eight rebounds and tied a career-high and franchise record with eight blocks on January 29 against the Sacramento Kings,[16] and surpassed Shareef Abdur-Rahim as the franchise's all-time leader in free throw attempts on January 31 against the Dallas Mavericks.[11] He became the all-time franchise leader in field goals made on February 6 against the Houston Rockets,[11] and became the all-time franchise leader in minutes played on February 7 at Dallas.[11] He surpassed Shareef Abdur-Rahim (7,801 points) as the Grizzlies' all-time leading scorer on March 7, 2007, against the Toronto Raptors (7,809 points at the time).[11] On January 24, 2007, Gasol recorded his second career triple-double against the hosting Utah Jazz, garnering 17 points, 13 rebounds, and 12 assists. He also registered 2 blocks and one steal.[17]

2007–2008

Pau Gasol

On February 1, 2008, Gasol was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers along with a 2010 second round draft pick for Kwame Brown, Javaris Crittenton, Aaron McKie, the rights to Marc Gasol (Pau's younger brother), and 2008 and 2010 first round draft picks.[18] Albeit, there has been a bit of controversy surrounding the trade. Chris Wallace denied in an ESPN article that he had been ordered by owner Michael Heisley to make the Grizzlies more attractive to a potential buyer. Heisley has been trying to sell the franchise for two years. Wallace said, "No one put pressure on me to do this, and Michael Heisley has actually been reluctant to move Pau." He also said that they had been "trolling" the waters for a while and dealt with a number of teams. He selected the Lakers deal because "it didn't get any better than this."[18] When Gasol departed the Grizzlies, he held twelve franchise records, including games played, minutes played, field goals made and attempted, free throws made and attempted, offensive, defensive, and total rebounds, blocked shots, turnovers, and points. Per game statistics, he leads Memphis in defensive and total rebounds along with blocked shots.[19] On February 5, he made his first Lakers appearance in a game against the New Jersey Nets, during which he scored 24 points and had 12 rebounds in a 105-90 win over the Nets.[20][21] On March 14, Gasol sprained his ankle in a game against the New Orleans Hornets, stepping on the foot of teammate Vladimir Radmanović in the first quarter.[22] Gasol was expected to miss the remaining three games of the Lakers' road trip after x-rays came up negative.[23] Gasol returned to the starting lineup on April 2 against the Portland Trail Blazers and played nearly thirty-two minutes, registering 10 points, six rebounds and seven assists.[24] He admitted to feeling limited with the swelling in his ankle still present.[24] Gasol helped the Lakers finish the regular season with the best record in the Western Conference (57-25), with him in the starting lineup the Lakers went 22-5. Kobe Bryant has also stated that playing with Gasol clicked from the start.[25]

Dunk by Gasol in Game 2 of the 2008 NBA Finals

In the Lakers first win over the Denver Nuggets, he contributed 36 points, 16 rebounds, 8 assists and 3 blocked shots.[25][26] When the Lakers swept the first round of the 2007-08 playoffs against the Nuggets, it was Gasol's fourth trip to the playoffs and the first time he had not been on the losing end of a series. His previous team, the Grizzlies, did not make it to the playoffs for the second year in a row. This was Gasol's first trip beyond the first round as his team, the Lakers, made it to the Conference finals after defeating the Utah Jazz. He contributed 17 points and 13 rebounds in the Lakers clinching win to advance them to the conference finals.[27][28] On May 31, he recorded a career high 19 rebounds in an NBA Western Conference Finals clinching win against the San Antonio Spurs.[29] This marked his first trip to the NBA Finals, and he became the first Spaniard to reach the finals.[30][31] Gasol scored 14.7 points per game on .532 shooting in the 2008 NBA Finals against the Boston Celtics, below his scoring average of 18.9 points a game during the regular season, however, he led the Lakers in rebounding with 10.2 rebounds per game throughout the championship series,[32] up from his regular season average of 8.4.[11] Los Angeles lost in six games against Boston in the Finals, including a 131-92 loss in Game 6.[33] During the 2008 NBA Playoffs, Gasol was the second best Laker in points (16.9), rebounds (9.3) and assists per game (4.0).[34] He also led the team in blocks per game (1.90) and was tied with Lamar Odom with the most postseason double-doubles (10).

2008–2010

Gasol was selected to his second All-Star appearance as a reserve for the Western Conference squad during the 2008-2009 season, his first as a Laker. He was also named Western Conference Player of the Month after helping the Lakers to an 11-2 record for the month of February that included road wins over Boston and Cleveland. He finished the 2009 regular season with averages of 18.9 points, 9.6 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 1 block per game. Gasol then won his first NBA championship ring when the Lakers defeated the Orlando Magic in the 2009 NBA Finals.

On December 24, 2009 Gasol signed a 3-year extension with the Lakers worth $64.7 million.[35]

Player profile

Gasol is currently in his eighth year in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is very athletic and quick for a 7 footer, and plays the power forward and center positions. He has often been compared with fellow European players Toni Kukoč and Dirk Nowitzki, holding career averages of 18.8 points, 8.6 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game. He is a refined scorer from both inside and midrange, his overall game is near-ambidextrous, and makes it difficult for opposing teams to defend. Gasol uses a variety of midrange jumpers, hook shots, up-and-under moves and shot fakes to score very efficiently. He is also an above-average shot blocker, with a career average of 1.8 blocks per game. Statistically, he shoots 22.7 percent when it comes to three pointers. Before being traded to the Los Angeles Lakers during the 2007-08 season, he had only played with the Memphis Grizzlies from 2001-2008. When he was traded to the Lakers, he maintained the same number on his jersey, still playing with the number 16. In his career, Gasol has never been ejected.[36] Gasol scored his 10,000th point in a game against the Jazz on the 2nd of January 2009.[37] He finished with 21 points, 11 rebounds and six assists in the win.[38]

NBA career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high
Correct as of 21 February 2009[9]

Regular season

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2001–02 Memphis 82 79 36.7 .518 .200 .709 8.9 2.7 .5 2.1 17.6
2002–03 Memphis 82 82 36.0 .510 .100 .736 8.8 2.8 .4 1.8 19.0
2003–04 Memphis 78 78 31.5 .482 .267 .714 7.7 2.5 .6 1.7 17.7
2004–05 Memphis 56 53 32.0 .514 .167 .768 7.3 2.4 .7 1.7 17.8
2005–06 Memphis 80 80 39.2 .503 .250 .689 8.9 4.6 .6 1.9 20.4
2006–07 Memphis 59 59 36.2 .538 .273 .748 9.8 3.4 .5 2.1 20.8
2007–08 Memphis 39 39 36.7 .501 .267 .819 8.8 3.0 .4 1.4 18.9
2007–08 L.A. Lakers 27 27 34.0 .589 .000 .789 7.8 3.5 .5 1.6 18.8
2008–09 L.A. Lakers 81 81 37.0 .567 .500 .781 9.6 3.5 .6 1.0 18.9
2009–10 L.A. Lakers 65 65 37.0 .536 .000 .790 11.3 3.4 .6 1.7 18.3
Career 649 643 35.8 .521 .220 .743 9.0 3.2 .5 1.7 18.8
All-Star 3 0 17.0 .526 .000 1.000 8.7 .7 .7 .3 9.0

Playoffs

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2003–04 Memphis 4 4 33.5 .571 .000 .900 5.0 2.5 1.0 1.5 18.3
2004–05 Memphis 4 4 33.3 .488 1.000 .500 7.5 2.5 .5 1.8 21.3
2005–06 Memphis 4 4 39.5 .433 .000 .767 6.8 3.0 .5 1.2 20.3
2007–08 L.A. Lakers 21 21 39.8 .530 .000 .692 9.3 4.0 .5 1.9 16.9
2008–09 L.A. Lakers 23 23 40.5 .580 .000 .714 10.8 2.5 .8 2.0 18.3
Career 56 56 39.1 .538 .500 .716 9.3 3.1 .7 1.8 18.1

Other achievements

NBA

European Player of the Year awards

Spanish national team

FC Barcelona

Personal life

Pau Gasol's mother, Marisa, was a medical doctor, and his father, Agustí, was a nurse administrator. When Pau was born, his family was living in Cornellà, but he was born in Barcelona, at Sant Pau Hospital,[1] where both of his parents worked. When he was six years old, his family moved to another Barcelona suburb, Sant Boi de Llobregat, where he spent the remainder of his childhood.[3] His parents moved to the Memphis suburb of Germantown, Tennessee after he signed with the Grizzlies, and enrolled his younger brothers Marc and Adrià in Lausanne Collegiate School in Memphis.[39] They planned to move to the Los Angeles area when Pau was traded to the Lakers, with Agustí accepting a job with a health-care company in that area; although the Grizzlies obtained the rights to Marc's services as part of the trade, he was expected to re-sign with his Spanish team Akasvayu Girona. However, when Marc decided to sign with the Grizzlies, their parents chose to stay in Germantown. Agustí now works from home for the same company, while Marisa now volunteers at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.[40]

Gasol was never interested in football, but loved basketball. The first sport he played was actually rugby, before switching to basketball.[41] He is described as "a family boy and the perfect student, a tad shy, and a bit of a joker."[3]

He originally did not want to make sports his career. On the day that Magic Johnson announced his HIV-positive status in 1991, the 11-year-old Gasol, who had heard the news in school, decided that he wanted to be a doctor and find a cure for AIDS. He enrolled in medical school at the University of Barcelona,[42] but left as his basketball career at FC Barcelona advanced.[40] He remains strongly interested in medicine. Gasol regularly visits Childrens Hospital of Los Angeles, a standard stop for athletes making charitable visits in the L.A. area, but does not limit his business to visiting young patients. On one visit, he asked a group of doctors well-informed questions about their treatment of children with scoliosis. In April 2010, Gasol was scheduled to sit in on a spinal surgery, wearing surgical scrubs, with Dr. David Skaggs, the hospital's chief of orthopedic surgery. Skaggs has said, "We talk to him now almost like he is a surgical colleague."[42]

Gasol also has a broad range of intellectual and cultural interests. He has taught himself Italian and French[42] to go along with his childhood languages of Catalan and Spanish plus English. He and Kobe Bryant speak to one another during games in Spanish to keep opponents from knowing their plans.[40] Gasol also regularly reads historical novels, plays the works of French classical composers on his keyboard, and attends concerts and operas; he is a friend of Spanish superstar tenor Plácido Domingo, and often visits him backstage after performances.[42]

His younger brother Marc, who is 7'1" tall and 280 pounds, is also a professional basketball player, currently playing for the Memphis Grizzlies.[43] Marc was drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers, 48th overall, in the 2007 NBA Draft and his rights were traded to the Memphis Grizzlies, as part of the deal that sent Gasol to the Lakers.[20] Their youngest brother Adrià has completed his sophomore year on Lausanne's basketball team and is already 6'8"; his coach at Lausanne has said, "He's built like Pau, with a mean streak like Marc," although he is not yet considered a major basketball prospect.[40]

Gasol currently resides in Redondo Beach, California.[42] Pau is currently going out with gymnast and Dream Cheer's cheerleader Silvia López Castro. They were first spotted sitting on the sidelines at the 2010 All-Star games in Dallas Texas, during the Rookie-Sophomore basketball game, and then again holding hands in Feb. 19, 2010 when he took her to the Los Angeles Sports Awards at the Hotel Marriott where he received the 2009 L.A. Sportsman of the year. Silvia has moved over to live with him in his Redondo Beach home.[44]

Notes

  1. ^ a b c Chuck Culpepper (2008-02-10). "The Tao of Pau". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2009-12-30. "One of my friends was working there" as an obstetrician, said Gasol's mother, Marisa, herself a doctor of internal medicine, "and I went to him to take my boy. It's such a beautiful hospital." (Marisa Sáez, Pau Gasol's mother, referring to the Hospital de Sant Pau, Barcelona, Spain)
  2. ^ "Memphis Grizzlies Career Leaders". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2008-05-17.
  3. ^ a b c d "Pau Gasol's Official Web Site" (in Catalan). Nike. Retrieved 2008-05-17.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
  4. ^ a b c "NBA Draft 2001 - Pau Gasol". NBA.com. Retrieved 2008-05-18.
  5. ^ "2001 NBA Draft Board". NBA.com. Retrieved 2008-05-19.
  6. ^ Newberry, Paul. "Abdur-Rahim Heading Home". NBA.com. Retrieved 2008-05-17.
  7. ^ "Pau Gasol - 2001-2002 Rookie of the Year". NBA.com. Retrieved 2008-05-19.
  8. ^ "All-Rookie Teams". NBA.com. Retrieved 2008-05-19.
  9. ^ a b c "Pau Gasol Career Stats Page". NBA.com. Retrieved 2008-05-18.
  10. ^ "Grizzlies Sign Pau Gasol To A Multi-Year Contract Extension". NBA.com. Retrieved 2008-05-18.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Pau Gasol Info Page". NBA.com. Retrieved 2008-05-17.
  12. ^ "NBA Playoffs 2004". Retrieved 2008-05-17.
  13. ^ "NBA Playoffs 2005". Retrieved 2008-05-17.
  14. ^ "NBA Playoffs 2006". Retrieved 2008-05-17.
  15. ^ a b "Pau Gasol Named Western Conference All-Star Reserve". Retrieved 2008-05-17.
  16. ^ "Gasol accurately attacks from field; Grizz win only third of last 10". Retrieved 2005-05-17.
  17. ^ "Grizzlies at Jazz Boxscore 2007-01-24". Retrieved 2007-01-24.
  18. ^ a b "What were the Grizzlies Thinking?". Retrieved 2005-05-17.
  19. ^ "Memphis Grizzlies Franchise Leaders". Retrieved 2008-05-17.
  20. ^ a b "ESPN - In dire need of frontcourt help, Lakers acquire Gasol from Grizzlies - NBA". Retrieved 2008-05-17.]
  21. ^ "Gasol dealt to Lakers in blockbuster trade". Retrieved 2008-02-01.
  22. ^ "Paul's double-double helps Hornets prevail". Retrieved 2008-05-17.
  23. ^ "Lakers' Gasol to sit out at least three games with injured ankle". Retrieved 2005-05-17.
  24. ^ a b "Gasol contributes 10 points in Lakers' win over Portland". Retrieved 2008-05-17.
  25. ^ a b Moore, David. "Gasol quickly fits in to help Lakers". USA Today. Retrieved 2008-05-17.
  26. ^ "Lakers-Nuggets Box Score". basketballreference.com.
  27. ^ "Jazz-Lakers Box Score". basketballreference.com.
  28. ^ "Lakers Win Series 4-2". Retrieved 2008-05-17.
  29. ^ "Lakers-Spurs Box Score". basketballreference.com.
  30. ^ "2008 NBA Finals Attracts Largest Number of On-Site International Media In NBA History". NBA.com. Retrieved 2008-06-05.
  31. ^ "Pau Gasol becomes first Spaniard to reach an NBA final". thinkspain.com. Retrieved 2008-05-30.
  32. ^ "2008 NBA Finals Composite Box Score". basketballreference.com.
  33. ^ "NBA Finals 2008 Homepage". Retrieved 2008-11-10.
  34. ^ "2007-08 Los Angeles Lakers Stats". basketballreference.com.
  35. ^ http://articles.latimes.com/2009/dec/24/sports/la-sp-lakers-fyi24-2009dec24
  36. ^ "Pau Gasol Stats". ESPN. Retrieved 2008-05-17.
  37. ^ http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/recap?gid=2009010213
  38. ^ http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/boxscore;_ylt=AqpoqhK6ogl4FzihAod3WLiOPKB4?gid=2009010213
  39. ^ Jenkins, Lee (2010-03-29). "The power of Pau". Sports Illustrated. p. 2. Retrieved 2010-03-26. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  40. ^ a b c d Jenkins, Lee (2010-03-29). "The power of Pau". Sports Illustrated. p. 3. Retrieved 2010-03-26. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  41. ^ "Pau Gasol Más perfiles". Retrieved 2005-07-06. Template:Es icon
  42. ^ a b c d e Jenkins, Lee (2010-03-29). "The power of Pau". Sports Illustrated. p. 1. Retrieved 2010-03-26. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  43. ^ "Grizzlies sign 2008 ACB Most Valuable Player Marc Gasol". NBA.com. 2008-06-23. Retrieved 2008-07-11.
  44. ^ http://www.larazon.es/noticia/10002-silvia-lopez-la-cheerleader-de-pau-gasol
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pau Gasol.


Awards and achievements
Preceded by NBA Rookie of the Year
2002 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Mr. Europa
2004 		Succeeded by
Preceded by FIBA World Championship
MVP
2006 		Succeeded by
Incumbent
Preceded by FIBA Europe Men's Player of the Year
2008, 2009 		Succeeded by
Incumbent
Preceded by Euroscar Award
2008, 2009 		Succeeded by
Incumbent
Preceded by Mr. Europa
2009 		Succeeded by
Incumbent

Template:Persondata

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