One thing that has always been known about Los Angeles Lakers legend and Basketball Hall of Famer Pau Gasol is that he is very proud of where he comes from and is always supportive of his native Spain. Sunday marked a potentially huge day for Gasol’s home country in the sports world.
Spanish tennis star Carlos Alcaraz, the top-ranked men’s player in the world, took on arguably the greatest of all time, Novak Djokovic, in the Wimbledon Final. Additionally, Spain’s national soccer team took on England in the Finals of the 2024 UEFA European Championships, and Gasol was following both massive contests. It was a very joyous day for the Lakers legend.
First Alcaraz shockingly dominated Djokovic, defeating him in straight sets to claim his second consecutive Wimbledon championship and fourth Grand Slam title at just 21 years old. Gasol took to social media to praise the tennis star who is already on his way to being one of the greats:
Hace un mes estábamos celebrando tu primer @rolandgarros, y ahora estamos celebrando tu segundo @Wimbledon 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 IMPRESIONANTE, @carlosalcaraz!!! Felicidades, campeón!! 🏆 pic.twitter.com/bnDgngIGPX
— Pau Gasol (@paugasol) July 14, 2024
That was then followed by a riveting UEFA Euro Final in which Mikel Oyarzabal scored the game-winning goal with just four minutes remaining to lift Spain to their fourth European championship and allowing for more celebration from Gasol:
CAMPEONEEEEES!!!!! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 https://t.co/S6PBdma3ln
— Pau Gasol (@paugasol) July 14, 2024
The support from Gasol should come as no surprise, as he has always been very proud of his Spanish heritage. Of course, he helped the Lakers to back-to-back NBA Championships, but he has also had a lot of international success for Spain.
Gasol led his country to three Eurobasket gold medals and another gold medal in the 2006 FIBA World Cup, so his accomplishments are right up there with those of his fellow countrymen. Sunday marked an extremely special day for the entire country of Spain, and Gasol’s joy and excitement were truly justified.
Kevin Durant has realization about Lakers’ LeBron James with Team USA
Even though Pau Gasol is no longer playing, he will surely support the Spanish basketball team during the upcoming Olympics in Paris. They are considered one of the top contenders with a chance to take down Team USA, led by Lakers superstar LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry.
LeBron has continued to turn heads with his performance throughout Team USA camp and is a real leader on the team and being able to watch him even more up close led to a bit of a realization from Durant about what makes the Lakers star so special.
Durant noted how contagious LeBron’s energy and enthusiasm for the game of basketball is. He added that being around LeBron makes him see why so many consider the Lakers star to be the greatest to ever play the game.
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