played field

Pau Gasol

Pau Gasol Sáez (pronounced POW gah-SOHL; IPA [ˈpaʊ̯ gəˈzɔɫ]) (born July 6, 1980 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain) is a 2.13 m (7 ft.) 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 also has two brothers; Marc Gasol, who like Pau, is a professional basketball player, and Adrià Gasol.

Gasol was drafted by the Atlanta Hawks in the 2001 NBA Draft, but his rights were traded to the Memphis Grizzlies, with whom he played seven seasons. 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. On February 1, 2008, Gasol was traded to the Lakers, and a USA Today newspaper article said he was "the major factor in turning around a storied NBA franchise and making it hip to be a Lakers fan again."

Biography

Early career

Gasol began playing basketball with his school team called Llor, and he eventually signed with C.B. Cornella. When he was sixteen, he began playing for Barcelona's junior team, which won both the 1998 Albert Schweitzer Tournament and the 1998 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship. After moving to the senior team, Gasol played just eleven total minutes in the 1998-99 season, and averaged under 15 minutes per game in the next year. 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. After entering the NBA Draft, Gasol was selected third overall in the first round in the 2001 NBA Draft by the Atlanta Hawks, who traded his draft rights to the Memphis Grizzlies in exchange for Shareef Abdur-Rahim.

2001-2005

In Gasol's first season with the Grizzlies, he won the Rookie of the Year Award, and was named to the All-Rookie first team. He averaged 17.6 points and 7.9 rebounds per game, and was also the only team member to play in all 82 games that season. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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.

2005-2006

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. 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. 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.

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. He was the first Spanish basketball player as well as the first Grizzlies player to ever make it to the All-Star Game.

2006-07

Gasol missed the first 19 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. He would go on to be named Most Valuable Player of the tournament, which Spain won. 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, and surpassed Shareef Abdur-Rahim as the franchise's all-time leader in free throw attempts on January 31 against the Dallas Mavericks. He became the all-time franchise leader in field goals made on February 6 against the Houston Rockets, and became the all-time franchise leader in minutes played on February 7 at Dallas. 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). 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.

2007-08

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. 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." 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. 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. 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. Gasol was expected to miss the remaining three games of the Lakers' road trip after x-rays came up negative. 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. He admitted to feeling limited with the swelling in his ankle still present. Kobe Bryant has also stated that playing with Gasol clicked from the start.

2007-08 Playoffs

In the Lakers first win over the Denver Nuggets, he contributed thirty-six points, sixteen rebounds, eight assists, and three blocks. 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. On May 31, he recorded a career high 19 rebounds in a NBA Finals clinching win against the San Antonio Spurs. This marked his first trip to the NBA Finals, and he became the first Spaniard to reach the finals. Gasol only averaged 14.7 points per game in the 2008 NBA Finals against the Boston Celtics after scoring at an 18.9 points per game clip during the regular season.

Player profile

Gasol is currently in his seventh year in the National Basketball Association (NBA). 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, and also is near-ambidextrous. Gasol uses a variety of midrange jumpers, hook shots, up-and-under moves, reverse pivots, 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 a 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. He is ranked 2nd in blocks per game (3.0) and 4th in blocks (18.0) in playoff rankings.

NBA career statistics

Correct as of 17 June 2008

Regular season

|- | align="left" | 2001–02 | align="left" | Memphis | 82 || 79 || 36.7 || .518 || .200 || .709 || 8.9 || 2.7 || .5 || 2.1 || 17.6 |- | align="left" | 2002–03 | align="left" | Memphis | 82 || 82 || 36.0 || .510 || .100 || .736 || 8.8 || 2.8 || .4 || 1.8 || 19.0 |- | align="left" | 2003–04 | align="left" | Memphis | 78 || 78 || 31.5 || .482 || .267 || .714 || 7.7 || 2.5 || .6 || 1.7 || 17.7 |- | align="left" | 2004–05 | align="left" | Memphis | 56 || 53 || 32.0 || .514 || .167 || .768 || 7.3 || 2.4 || .7 || 1.7 || 17.8 |- | align="left" | 2005–06 | align="left" | Memphis | 80 || 80 || 39.2 || .503 || .250 || .689 || 8.9 || 4.6 || .6 || 1.9 || 20.4 |- | align="left" | 2006–07 | align="left" | Memphis | 59 || 59 || 36.2 || .538 || .273 || .748 || 9.8 || 3.4 || .5 || 2.1 || 20.8 |- | align="left" | 2007–08 | align="left" | Memphis | 39 || 39 || 36.7 || .501 || .267 || .819 || 8.8 || 3.0 || .4 || 1.4 || 18.9 |- | align="left" | 2007–08 | align="left" | Los Angeles | 27 || 27 || 34.0 || .589 || .000 || .789 || 7.8 || 3.5 || .5 || 1.6 || 18.8 |- | align="left" | Career | align="left" | | 503 || 497 || 35.4 || .513 || .227 || .733 || 8.6 || 3.1 || .5 || 1.8 || 18.8 |- | align="left" | All-Star | align="left" | | 1 || 0 || 14.0 || .000 || .000 || .000 || 12.0 || 1.0 || .0 || .0 || .0 |}

Playoffs

|- | align="left" | 2003–04 | align="left" | Memphis | 4 || 4 || 33.5 || .571 || .000 || .900 || 5.0 || 2.5 || 1.0 || 1.5 || 18.5 |- | align="left" | 2004–05 | align="left" | Memphis | 4 || 4 || 33.3 || .488 || 1.000 || .500 || 7.5 || 2.5 || .5 || 1.8 || 21.3 |- | align="left" | 2005–06 | align="left" | Memphis | 4 || 4 || 39.5 || .433 || .000 || .767 || 6.8 || 3.0 || .5 || 1.2 || 20.3 |- | align="left" | 2007–08 | align="left" | Los Angeles | 21 || 21 || 39.8 || .530 || .000 || .692 || 9.3 || 4.0 || .5 || 1.9 || 16.9 |- | align="left" | Career | align="left" | | 33 || 33 || 38.2 || .513 || .500 || .717 || 8.2 || 3.5 || .6 || 1.8 || 18.0 |}

Other titles

NBA

1 time NBA All-Star (first Spanish player ever to play in an All-Star game) (2006)

Spanish national team

Silver medal in Basketball at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Silver medal in the 2007 European Championship
Gold medal in 2006 FIBA World Championship
Most Valuable player in the 2006 FIBA World Championship
7th place in Olympic games -Diploma- (Athens 2004)
Silver medal in the 2003 European Championship
5th place in the 2002 FIBA World Championship
Bronze medal in 2001 European Championship
Gold medal at the FIBA Under-19 World Championship with Spain (1999)
Gold medal at the FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship with Spain (1998)

FC Barcelona

Spanish League Champion (2001)
Copa del Rey Spanish Cup Champion (2001)
Spanish League Finals MVP (2001)
Most Valuable Player in Copa del Rey (2001)

Personal life

Pau Gasol's mother, Marisa, is a medical doctor, and his father Agustí a nurse administrator. When Gasol was born, his family was living in Cornellà, a community in the Barcelona province of Catalonia, an autonomous community of Spain, but he was born in Sant Pau Hospital, where both of his parents worked, in the city of Barcelona. 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. Gasol was never interested in football, but loved basketball. The first sport he played was actually rugby, before switching to basketball. He is described as "a family boy and the perfect student, a tad shy, and a bit of a joker." His younger brother, Marc, who is 7 feet tall and 280 pounds, is also a professional basketball player, currently playing for the Memphis Grizzlies.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. Gasol currently resides in Marina del Rey and is single.

Controversy

Gasol was involved in a controversial picture taken by the Spanish men's basketball team prior to the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. The team posed for a pre-Olympics "slant-eye" picture. Said Gasol of the photo: "It was something like supposed to be funny or something but never offensive in any way [...] I'm sorry if anybody thought or took it the wrong way and thought that it was offensive.