Pau Gasol Reacts to Paving the Way for Europeans in NBA Like Giannis Antetokounmpo and Luka Doncic

Pau Gasol is a former professional basketball player from Spain who started his career with the Memphis Grizzlies. He later went on to play for the Lakers and Chicago Bulls. The Spaniard then signed with The San Antonio Spurs back in 2016. Despite being a great basketball player, he has had a long-term injury history. It caused his career to come to an end.

After leaving the Spurs, he was drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks, with whom he made his last appearance in the 2019 NBA. In 2021, he retired from FC Barcelona after giving his last professional session. His 18 years in NBA have earned him six NBA All-Star selections and four All-NBA team selections.

He also won two NBA championships with the Lakers. With his amazing performance and skill set, the European player has contributed a lot to the NBA.

JJ Redick and Tommy Alter interviewed the basketball legend on the Old Man and the Three podcast. They discussed his experiences in the NBA with great players throughout history. As well as discussing his retirement, he outlined some of the differences between EuroLeague and NBA basketball.

Promoting ‘Pau Gasol: It’s About the Journey’, his new documentary series. He also reflected on how much he enjoys watching today’s young NBA players like Luka Doncic, Nikola Jokic, and Giannis Antetokounmpo.

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Pau also reacted to Giannis and Luka paving the way for Europeans in the NBA. The interview covers many other topics as well.

Pau Gasol talked about some great European players in the NBA

In 2018-19, the European players made an impression that exemplified their talent. In which Greece’s Giannis won MVP honors, Slovenia’s Luka was named Rookie of the Year, and Rudy Gobert won Defensive Player of the Year, while Nikola was named to the All-NBA First Team.

Pau Gasol was the first European to win the Rookie of the Year award in the NBA. Looking at the current generation of European players, he talked about their value to the NBA. According to him:

“It’s been great to see how all the European and international players have just established themselves not just in the league, but as some of the top players in the league. You say, Luka, Giannis, Jokic, I think they are in the top ten in the league.”

We have seen several great players who have come to the NBA and made their careers as professional basketball players.

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There are stars from Greece, Serbia, Lithuania, Spain, and more lighting up the NBA world. Let us know what you think by leaving a comment down below.