Alberto Díaz, the unlikely hero of the national team: "He asked me to leave basketball"

On August 26, just a week before Spain's debut at the Eurobasket,

(Málaga, 1994), received one of those calls that will change your life.

"He didn't even let me explain and was already asking about the time of the flight,"

recalls of that fleeting conversation.

He was the point guard in the middle of the preseason with Unicaja, forgetting what he could have been, and, suddenly, he became the emergency resource in the face of

's injury .

From there to being decisive among stars - that steal from

, that attacking foul taken from

-, just a twist of fate.

On the flight to Holland for the last game of Las Ventanas,

evaluated the options and it was clear to him: he preferred the defensive nerve of the Andalusian.

"I've been training him for years, he's a kind of special person. He knew our systems, values ​​and principles," admits the coach about the first player he had sent home at the beginning of August, long before the other point guards,

, because Alberto had not finished recovering from some physical problems.

No one could have imagined that Diaz's playoff would be so essential for the future of Spain in the European Championship, already in the fight for the medals.

Of all the positive surprises, none like yours.

"When he was cut he didn't have a good time.

He had worked hard, specifically with Unicaja's physical trainer, to arrive strongly at the concentration », emphasizes his former teammate and friend

, Betis point guard.

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Because if

knows something , as they affectionately call him in the locker room, it is to dodge prejudices and overcome adversity.

"I remember him in mini basketball. He was very, very small, the ball was bigger than him, but he drew a lot of attention for two things. Because he was red-haired, much more than now, and had a face full of freckles and because he was unstoppable, He was already playing with amazing intensity", recalls

, the man who molded Alberto in the Unicaja youth academy, under his command from when he was a cadet until he made his debut with the first team at the age of 18.

knee pain

His fierce personality stood out as a child despite appearances.

A contagious energy, a unique tactical wisdom and an unexpected leadership.

An anecdote that Tomé relives speaks of Alberto's ancestry, to whom basketball runs in the family: his brother Ernesto, who came to LEB Oro, was his mirror image.

"We were in a Spanish cadet championship, which by the way we won, with the Andalusian team. The boys messed it up in the hotel, some prank with the girls. I met them, I remained silent in the center and asked as a reprimand. ' Who's in charge here?'. Everyone answered me: Alberto!", narrates with a smile Tomé, then also regional coach.

Around that time, an episode happened that could change the point guard's destiny forever.

"Few people know this. Alberto wanted to stop playing basketball. That's how he asked me," recalls Francis.

The problem was terrible knee pain that he suffered from growing.

Díaz had always been very short and suddenly he stood up to the almost 190 centimeters that he looks now.

The suffering was such that the boy said enough.

Alberto Díaz.ALBERTO NEVADOFEB

So, at the age of 14, family mediation was essential.

Alberto's mother has always been the support, the one who watched over the correct development of the child.

"We decided to give him room. That he didn't train when he was in pain, even that he only came to play the games on weekends," admits Tomé.

And Alberto, little by little, changed his decision, at the same time that the suffering diminished.

He even became a benchmark in the Los Guindos youth academy, where he forged his basketball.

"He is not very creative and his shot has been improving, especially with his feet standing still. In the quarry he was already incredible in defense, but he was also very aggressive in attack," recalls his coach, who highlights two proper names, two peers, with whose competence he grew up.

"First,

.

With them it was like going to war in every training session," he admits. "Albertillo drove me crazy. Then I understood that it also made me improve," Pozas points out.

Those battles made him debut with the first team in 2012, with

on the green bench, in a match in Badalona.

He was substituting for the

.

It was Garbajosa's last season as a professional.

"I remember that the coach summoned him for training the next morning. And he replied: 'But I have school,'" says the president of the FEB.

Alberto, who has his parents in Berlin and his partner following the entire tournament from Tbilisi, completed his Physical Education Teaching career.

Unibox

Captain of Unicaja, 353 matches in green, was always under suspicion in his jump to the elite.

He left on loan for two years, first to Bilbao and then to Fuenlabrada.

«And every season they sign an American point guard.

Although he always ends up imposing himself », claims Tomé, who hopes that this European will be a turning point.

"I'm not surprised by what he's achieving. He plays a simple game and defensively he's three or four levels above the rest," praises the former Obradoiro player.

Alberto, a patch a priori who has managed to be present in the important moments of the matches sharing the field with

-there are five players who play fewer minutes than him in Spain- tomorrow will face the challenge of his life, the face to face with

, with the German stands roaring.

"I feel happy defending, it's a personal challenge for me," he said these days.

Another test of character.

"He is surprising me, he is confident, he is making important shots (four of seven in the last three games). We have one more weapon with him, for physically demanding games, where other little ones suffer," Scariolo surrenders to the most unlikely of all his heroes.

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