José Manuel Calderón, one of the best bases in the history of Spanish basketball, retires from the tracks to start a new professional stage in the NBA Players Association, according to The Washington Post . The Extremaduran, 38, did not find this summer any convincing offer to continue in one more season in the best league in the world, where he arrived in 2005.

Ben Golliver, a Post journalist, says Calderón will work as an assistant to Michele Roberts, executive director of the union (NBPA). In this way, Calderón puts an end to a professional career that began at age 17. After his first steps in Fuenlabrada and Baskonia, in 2005 he crossed the Atlantic to sign for the Raptors, where he would play until early 2013.

His transfer to Detroit represented only the first step of a team-changing carousel, which made him go through Dallas Mavericks, New York Knicks, Los Angeles Lakers, Atlanta Hawks and Cleveland Cavaliers. In this last franchise he played the 2018 Finals, next to LeBron James.

His career with the Spanish team included eight medals, three Olympic (silver in Beijing and London, plus the bronze of Rio), gold in the World Cup in Japan and four in Eurobasket (gold in 2011, silver in 2003 and 2007 and bronze in 2013).

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