Pau Gasol

Spanish basketball legend Pau Gasol achieved great success in Europe and America during a glittering playing career. Among his long list of achievements and awards are three Olympic medals, one World Cup title and three European Championship titles. He was a major force in the NBA during the 2000s and 2010s, becoming the first non-American to be named NBA Rookie of the Year and six-time NBA All-Star player. He won the NBA title twice with the LA Lakers and won several European Player of the Year awards. In short, players rarely come more accomplished.

Gasol was born in Barcelona in 1980 to parents who were both six-foot-plus basketball players — Gasol himself would eventually grow to be a towering 7’ 1”. He began playing basketball in high school and was soon signed by a local team before being drafted by the basketball team of footballing titans Barcelona. He won the 2001 National Championship with the team — and was named their Most Valuable Player — but America beckoned and, that same year, he was drafted by NBA side the Memphis Grizzlies. He quickly became indispensable for the side, appearing in every game and making history by being the first foreign player to win the Rookie of the Year Award.

In 2008, he moved to the LA Lakers, with whom we won the NBA in successive years. The same year, he made the first of his three Olympic appearances with the Spanish national team, helping them to win silver. Still active, he is also a tireless ambassador for good causes. In 2013, he co-launched the Gasol Foundation, which is dedicated to combatting childhood obesity through community health and healthy eating.