Spain to Meet Argentina in World Cup Final

Date: 14 September 2019 - 21:26

News ID: ۷۰۴۱۷

BEIJING (AP) - Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Lamar Odom, LeBron James and Kyrie Irving.
Those are the only five players to win an NBA title and a gold medal in the same year, whether it was in FIBA or Olympic competition, with Pippen doing it twice.
It is an exclusive club - one that Marc Gasol is on the cusp of joining.
A mere three months after helping the Toronto Raptors win the NBA Finals, Gasol has led Spain to the gold medal game at the World Cup. It'll be Spain against Argentina on Sunday, with both nations looking for their second title. Spain won the world championship in 2006 when Gasol was a 21-year-old backup, and Argentina won the inaugural tournament in 1950.
''I'm so deep in the rabbit hole right now that I don't get to see much light,'' Gasol said. ''You're so focused on your opponent, your next rival, recovering, doing whatever's necessary to win games that you don't look at the big picture. It's been great. I'm very fortunate.
''I knew that committing to the national team this summer would not be easy physically. But it's so worth it, and not just because we're in the final game.''
He simply willed Spain into the final game.
Gasol scored 33 points - his career-high for any of the 18 FIBA-sanctioned or Olympic tournaments he's played over the last 18 years - in Spain's double-overtime win against Australia in the semifinals. He gave up his NBA offseason to be part of this team, a group that failed to medal at the last World Cup in Spain five years ago, and knows he might not have too many more years left on the international stage.