Pau Gasol enters NBA Hall of Fame

Former FC Barcelona basketball star Pau Gasol went all the way from the Palau Blaugrana to the NBA Hall of Fame, a place in Springfield (Massachusetts) where only a chosen few get to be honoured.  

2023 is turning out to be a very special year for Gasol. Of the millions of young children that take up basketball, only a very small handful end up with their names in the Hall of Fame, but that's where the man who particularly made history in the yellow of the Los Angeles Lakers has ended up. 

In doing so, he becomes the very first Catalan to enter the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and to wear the iconic orange jacket. But it all began for him wearing the Barça blaugrana, where he played for the senior team between 1999 and 2001. After that, he spent 18 years in the biggest league in the world, winning it in both 2009 and 2010. 

Mentions for Barça and Juan Carlos Navarro

Now a household name in the United States, Gasol's acceptance speech did not forget his roots. “I played alongside some great players and had some amazing coaches. Some of those became very special friends, including Juan Carlos Navarro. He inspired me very much to become a great player."