Three days ago, when the news leaked that Pau Gasol had chosen Barça as the place to play basketball again after
almost two years away from the courts
due to an injury, the player himself came out on his social networks, stating that he was still "focused" on his recovery: "I'm not ready to get back on track yet."
This Tuesday, however, a day before the deadline to register players in the Euroleague ends, the pivot has announced what was already an open secret: 20 years later, he will wear Barça again.
"I am very happy to announce that I am returning home and that I will soon join the ranks of FC Barcelona in basketball. I want to be able to contribute to Barça's ambitious project and make myself available to the coach to join this team and the magnificent work it is developing ", Pau announces in his statement, in which, in addition, he clarifies that it will still be a while until he can be seen short:" I continue to progress in my physical condition and
I am starting to pick up the pace of competition
. I hope to be able to join training as soon as possible and we will assess together with the coach, the coaching staff and the medical teams (my own and the club's) my progression within the team and my contribution on the court ".
Exactly two decades have passed since Gasol left Barça, with which he won
a Cup and a League
under the command of Aíto García Reneses, to make the leap to the NBA.
Two decades in which he became a giant in the best league in the world, where he won two rings with the Lakers, was rookie of the year, six times All Star ... and in which he pocketed almost 220 million dollars in salaries.
Now, the Spaniard, who will turn 41 in July, will play for
the part proportional to the minimum salary of the Endesa League
(68,337 euros, he will receive about 30,000 for four months).
Curiously, Gasol already receives a much higher salary from the club as
a strategic advisor, global ambassador and partner of Barça
in the US Although the figures of the agreement they signed in March 2019 for two years were not made official, Gasol has received around 450,000 euros this last years.
At Barça, Pau will meet again with
Sarunas Jasikevicius
, with whom he shared a team in that last season at Barça.
As with Nacho Rodríguez and Juan Carlos Navarro, both now in the offices of the team that has just won the Cup, which is leading the Euroleague and second in the ACB.
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Know more
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