Not even a year ago. Jaycee Carroll received a desperate pass from Llull, feigned the attempt by Víctor Claver to stop and got up in suspension to score one of the triples that are already part of the history of the ACB . It was the culmination of a fleeting comeback in the second game of the final against Barça, against the ecstasy of Wizink, the first stone of the league title that would come a few days later at the Palau. The escort came from a few rare days in which, he confessed, he even had to call his father to try to find the crux of his unusual mistake. And it is not that the current season broken by the coronavirus was being the brightest. But, after removing the daisy, he has decided to accept Real Madrid's renewal offer for one more year.

The sniper will turn a decade in white and can boast of being one of the most important Americans in the history of Real Madrid, the foreigner who wore that shirt the most times (631 games) , which is no small feat. It came from the hand of Pablo Laso in 2011, from Gran Canaria, and since then he has never missed his appointment with the triple, a fundamental proper name of the golden age of 'Lasismo'. "There is still a lot to compete and I have the desire to win more titles and play at the highest level. When you quit, you can never take it again and I want to make the most of it," he said in the club's official media.

But the renewal of Carroll, who has won 19 titles in nine seasons (2 Euroleagues, 1 Intercontinental Cup, 5 Leagues, 6 King's Cups and 5 Super Cups), fundamental from the very first, that initiatory King's Cup in Sant Jordi, It was not an easy process. At 36 years old, doubts about his family retirement to his native Utah have been constant. At Christmas, with the club's permission, he missed several games to travel to his country. Also during the first weeks of the pandemic he was there with his wife Baylee and their four children (Alba, Bella, Zoe and Jagger, two of them born in Madrid), enjoying the house that they have built in Wellsville , where there is no shortage of spectacular basketball court or blocks for his horses, his other passion.

For all those speculations, which became relevant after his umpteenth exhibition, that of the final in Malaga against Unicaja -20 points in 22 minutes-, in which his wife's own words ("You have to see it") left the door open to goodbye, the Palace surrendered in the last weeks before the coronavirus to one of its most beloved players, to the constant cry of "Jaycee, stay". In the last game before the break, Jaycee had signed 19 points against ASVEL Villeurbanne and a few days earlier he had reached his top of the course, 27 against Alba in Berlin.

Because, as Laso always remembers, " we want Jaycee to throw the last ball , because he is going to put it. We are all convinced." Like that night against Olympiacos in the final of the Euroleague 2015, those 11 consecutive points in the third act recorded by fire in all the memories. Like the western characters, Laramie's will have one more bullet before his deserved retirement at his ranch.

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