He receives a pass from Mike Conley above the break, sweat dripping down his face. Dwight Howard sags off of him, daring him to take the three — not expecting it to go in. The offender relentlessly focuses on the basket.
With 17 seconds remaining on the shot clock, he squares up, tucks in his elbows, and flicks his wrist, releasing the basketball. Splash.
In a tightly contested four-point game featuring two Western Conference foes, the Memphis Grizzlies versus Houston, Marc Gasol was putting his diverse arsenal in full display in a battle of “who’s the better center?”
The crowd roars for the foreigner in approval, as if to say “where’d the Grizzlies find a center like that?”
The star-studded Marc Gasol came from humble beginnings in Barcelona, where he neither expected nor desired fame.
Via NBA.com:
"“We never had anything extraordinary, but we never missed anything,” Gasol says. “My mom, she worked at the factory as a doctor, and as a family doctor too. My dad was a nurse administrator. My parents always made sure we had the best education, and food on the table. Our clothes weren’t [sic] fancy. I had patches everywhere. My mom on Wednesday was going to the flea market. For vacation we would take our little RV — it was a little trailer, you open it in half, and you have my parents sleeping on the one side and me and Pau on the other. And we had the best time. We [would] just drive everywhere. We rode [sic] on our bikes and we [played] basketball every day.”"
Pau Gasol is four and a half years older than his little brother, Marc. He was drafted third overall by the Memphis Grizzlies and won rookie of the year in 2001-02 before winning two championship rings in Los Angeles. Marc was still a high schooler in Tennessee when Pau played for the Grizzlies; however, nobody expected him to follow his older brother’s footsteps into basketball ascension.
"“I wasn’t anybody,” he argues. “I wasn’t outstanding. Nobody talked about me. Nobody was knocking on the door to come scout me.”"
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Fast forward to a few years later and Marc is a former defensive player of the year (2012-13); he’s currently scoring a career-best 19.8 points per game, and not only are he and Pau the best brother duo to ever tread the hardwood floor, but they are also likely to face each other as All-Stars for the first time this February.
All of these events are unfolding in the final year of Marc’s contract. This summer, M. Gasol will be the most sought after free agent in the league, a period he is not fondly anticipating.
"“I’ve been already through one,” he says of the summer of 2011, when as a restricted free agent he re-signed with the Grizzlies for $58 million over four years, “and I did not especially enjoy it. I don’t know how I’m going to feel in July. I really don’t. This is the next five years of my life and I’m going to go all in. Whatever team you play for, you’ve always got to feel like you represent that team, that you’ve got to play for it. Because that’s the way we grew up in Spain. You play for the city. You play for a way of doing things. It’s not about you. I do this for them. I play for the city, for the franchise or whatever. You’ve got to have that pride that comes with it.”"
Gasol’s free agency concerns go much deeper than the money and attention that will loom over him — which are among the last things on his mind. To Gasol, his free agency decision will not only affect his life, but the many others who he seeks to help for reasons much deeper than simply playing a basketball game. It is the profundity of his reasoning that adds to the brilliance of his game.
A common notion amongst NBA players of today is that they must block out every surrounding distraction and focus on themselves and their personal game — ignoring outside factors because it’s all about you, and what you can do for the your team and yourself. Emphasis on oneself is considered wise.
"“To me it’s the opposite way,” Gasol says. “Everything that I have outside the game, I play for them. I play for the kids — for Adam and Annie, for Adam and Nick.”"
Nicholas London and Adam Cruthirds are two high school basketball players who have been diagnosed with leukemia. They’re currently being treated at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis.
Last year, the Gasol brothers launched the Gasol Foundation, which focuses its time, energy, and financial resources on the epidemic of childhood obesity.
"“I can relate to them, and I can tell them I know how you guys feel,” Gasol says of the children he and his brother are hoping to reach. “And sometimes it’s not even obvious that the kids have a problem. The kid may be just a little overweight, and people say he’ll be fine, he’ll go through a growth spurt and be skinny. But we don’t know. You’ve got to see into each situation and try to break through a lot of layers of things to get to the real problem, and maybe after that the kid changes. He builds up.”"
Marc Gasol, a chubby kid in his youth, weighed up to 300 pounds in high school. Gasol went on to explain the embarrassing pictures he has of himself as a kid, and that he would be willing to share them with kids who aren’t comfortable with themselves and are in need of encouragement.
"“I learn from this — that was the best part. What happened to me, I used it. Then I became myself. I educate myself,” he goes on. “And right now I’m happy. I’m happy that I had it. I’m actually happy because that made me the person I am today. I’m pretty happy with who I am.”"
He’s become one of the best centers in the league — if not the best — and he plays the game with such ingenuity and selflessness. He knows that he cannot afford to be complacent after all of the work he’s put in, for he was once in the shoes of the kids he works with on a day-to-day basis.
Gregg Popovich, a coach with unparalleled basketball wittedness, recently illuminated the Gasol brother’s idiosyncratic games:
"“I think probably Pau has a little bit more variety to his game,” says Spurs coach Gregg Popovich of the two Gasols. “Pau can come out and do the rocker step on you and play like a mobile four. And then he can go down to the block, and he’s got moves in the block like his brother. I think his brother is a bit more of a rock-em-sock-em type player, but he has more finesse than most rock-em-sock-em guys.”"
Marc isn’t considered a star for serving as a heedless behemoth on the court. His intuition allows him to display excellent aid in regard to the needs of his teammates as he applies his brute force thoughtfully. Scarce are the big men who come into the league with Gasol’s acumen and passing dexterity.
"“It’s necessary for us,” says Grizzlies coach Dave Joerger of Gasol’s passing from the high post. “It really is, because otherwise we’re going to end up with a post on each side all of the time, and there’s no place to go.”"
Although self-sacrificing, Marc doesn’t allow himself to be a pushover. It’s as if his artful game on the court beautifully depicts the way he lives his life.
Marc moved back to Spain after graduating from high school, where he played for Pau Gasol’s former club in Barcelona; however, he was done living as Pau’s chubby little brother.
"“I was driven,” Marc Gasol says. “I was never insecure. A lot of people ask me that — especially, did you feel pressure being Pau’s brother? No, because I saw success through him. And I felt it. Because we’re so close of a family, when he got recognition, I felt happy for him. I felt genuinely happy for him.”"
Though he spent most of his first three seasons in Spain on the bench, Marc didn’t allow his pending success get the best of him.
"“When the fighters came back to Rome, and the whole city is roaring and cheering for them,” Marc Gasol was saying, “the Empire would hire people to tell them: ‘You are human. You are just human.”‘"
A week after Marc won player of the year for the first time in Spain, Gasol’s coach shared this story with him. Although the soldiers were lauded for their victories on the battlefield, they were expected to behave as humbly as servants.
"“They wanted them to understand that they are just humans,” Gasol says. “They’re doing their job, but at the end of the day they’re just humans.” With a laugh he adds, “Those people are not around anymore.”"
That is why Gasol is selective with the people that he gives ear to. “They’re just going to tell you what you want to hear,” he says. “You should be playing 30 minutes, you should have the ball more, you should do this, you should do that. Those people don’t understand what it takes. They don’t know about basketball.”
Thus, Marc doesn’t concern himself with the same vanity that encapsulates the minds of many superstars in today’s game. He doesn’t play with a chip on his shoulder or set his sights on gaining respect, yet he doesn’t compromise his effort on the court.
After improving his diet and focusing on his workouts, Marc showed up for the 2014-15 season with a much more svelte appearance than he’s had in previous seasons. All of the work he’s put in on and off the court is alas coming to fruition.
He’s excluded himself from those who would feed his ego with junk and has shifted his focus onto those in need of his heroism, on and off the court. He is the NBA’s best passing big men, and has subtly become the league’s best, most humble center.