“It Was a Frustrating Season For Me”: Toronto Raptors Star Reveals Motivation Behind His INSANE Body Transformation

A lot of NBA players shocked the fans with their transformation during the hiatus. James Harden and Nikola Jokic caught the headlines first. But another player who had a big weight loss was Toronto Raptors center, Marc Gasol. In the twelve years he has played in the league, this has been the worst year for him, statistically. He also missed 28 games due to injury. He revealed that it was this frustration that drove the change.

While speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Gasol admitted that he was unhappy with his performance. “It was a frustrating season for me personally because I could never get a rhythm and to help the team the way I should be helping the team. “As soon as… we got informed the [Raptors] facility was closing down, I got together with my team on a phone call and got going on a plan to resolve these ongoing issues.”

Toronto Raptors teammate couldn’t recognize Gasol

Gasol’s new look took youngster Patrick McCaw by surprise. He said, “I was shocked seeing him. I couldn’t really recognize him because he had a new haircut. I think he thinks he’s my age [24] again now, but he looks great, moving well, moving fast, handling the ball, just the change that he made is super…  it’s good and I’m excited to see him play.”

After winning the championship with the Raptors last season, he didn’t have time for a break. He participated in the FIBA championship and helped Spain to win the title, becoming the second player since Lamar Odom to win both trophies back to back. In the end, it was tiring.

“You go from a late run in June, a great run in June, and putting everything on the line for the team,” Gasol said. “In July we started with the national team and try to accomplish something very special with them too, which we obviously did, so those are two very taxing efforts.”

He may have had a bad start to the season, but the rest of the team still looks solid. After Kawhi Leonard left the team, Pascal Siakam has stepped up big time. The Raptors will be looking to continue this regular season form into Orlando and repeat their success from last year.