Marc Gasol, a 13-year NBA veteran, retires from basketball
Marc Gasol has retired from basketball as a player after 13 NBA seasons and six Liga ACB seasons, he officially announced on social media Wednesday.
Gasol, 39, most recently spent the 2022-23 season with Girona of Liga ACB, a professional league in Spain. He averaged 10.5 points, 5.7 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.3 blocks on 46.3 percent shooting, 29.7 percent from 3-point range (2.5 3PA) and 81.4 percent from the free-throw line.
Gasol last appeared in the NBA with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2020-21, where he appeared in 52 games in his lone season in Hollywood. He averaged 5.0 points, 4.1 and 2.1 rebounds in just 19.1 minutes. His 12 other seasons were with the Memphis Grizzlies and Toronto Raptors, helping lead Toronto to their first-ever title in 2018-19.
For his NBA career, he averaged 14.0 points, 7.4 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.4 blocks over 891 NBA career appearances (866 starts). Gasol was a three-time All-Star, a two-time All-NBA honoree with a defensive player of the year. He was one of the better defensive centers of his generation, despite never being overly athletic.
What he made up for that was his positioning and instincts, which helped him win the 2012-13 Defensive Player of the Year after averaging 1.2 steals and 2.0 blocks per 75 possessions. He was a very sturdy 6-foot-11 who was one of the backbones of Memphis’ “Grit and Grind” moniker in the early 2010s alongside Zach Randolph, Tony Allen, Mike Conley and Rudy Gay.
Gasol also has a very strong international background, which could cement his case into the Basketball Hall of Fame down the line. He’s a two-time FIBA Gold Medalist, two-time Eurobasket champion, two-time Olympic Silver Medalist, one-time LIGA ACB champ and a one-time Liga ACB MVP.
He was truly a dynamic center during his peak–one that any organization (or, in this case, the Grizzlies) were lucky to have. Congratulations on a great career, Marc.
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