Pau Gasol finalizes his return, although he lacks offers: "I am not in a position to be demanding"

• Pau Gasol The imminent end of the mystery

Pau Gasol is working to achieve what he hopes is a return to the NBA and to secure a place on the Spanish Olympic team, in Tokyo 2021, according to the statements he made to the ESPN sports network.

The six-time All-Star and two-time NBA champion, 40, recognized that the Lakers are a destination he has dreamed of for all that it means in his professional career after having won two league titles (2009 and 2010 )

, to which is added the recent signing of his brother by the Californian franchise.

"I'm not going to lie.

said .

Last month, his brother Marc signed a two-year, $ 5.25 million deal with the Lakers.

Pau Gasol

and has undergone two surgeries since then to repair stress fractures to the navicular bone in his left foot.

He said doctors first discovered the stress reaction in the fall of 2018, as Gasol began his third season with the San Antonio Spurs.

Gasol and his agent recently discussed agreements to participate in training camps for some NBA teams, but the Spaniard preferred to do more conditioning before engaging in serious talks, he said.

He has been training in Northern California, where he lives with his wife Catherine McDonnell, and their three-month-old daughter, and hopes to return to the NBA as more than just a coach.

"I want to feel necessary"

"I want to have the opportunity to contribute, to feel necessary. Not just to be there. That's not what I am. I want to fully enjoy it, but competing," he said, although it is not clear if the Lakers are interested in hiring him.

He said his rehab has had its ups and downs and that total contact exercises are now the end goal to see how he has completed recovery.

"There were good days and hard days where you say,

Maybe it's time to let it go,'" acknowledged Gasol, who was with the Portland Trail Blazers until last season.

The brothers discussed where Marc could sign during his recent stint as a free agent.

Pau said that Marc "had several interested teams."

"Playing for the Lakers is a unique franchise. It is the opportunity of a lifetime, and it is very special for us to be the first brothers to play for the Lakers," he said.

"It would be amazing if it ends up happening that I can join the team at some point," added the Sant Boi player.

Gasol has also wondered if he would enjoy playing in some kind of "bubble" environment that would take him away from his wife and daughter,

, whose middle name the couple chose as a tribute to Bryant and his eldest daughter, 13. years old, who also died in the plane crash that occurred last January.

The oldest of the Gasol brothers commented that he has talked about the possibility of ending his career with FC Barcelona, ​​where he played before coming to the United States, but he has always said that he would prefer to remain in the NBA.

After that, the 2021 Olympic Games in Tokyo are coming, the fifth in which Gasol would compete, who won with Spain the silver medal in 2008 and 2012 and the bronze in 2016. "Being able to participate in five Olympic Games would be extraordinary, "admitted the eldest of the Gasol brothers.

Also, once he retires, Gasol would have an interest in working for an NBA team in some way, he said.

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