Marc Gasol announces retirement from basketball after two-decade career

Marc Gasol has officially retired from playing the game of basketball.

After a 20 season career that included 13 in the NBA, the Spanish big man has decided to call it a day. Gasol played for the Memphis Grizzlies, Toronto Raptors, and Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA.

Gasol's retirement video encompasses his entire career. From moving to Memphis following his brother coming to the NBA, to returning to Spain to play for FC Barcelona and Girona, and then returning to Memphis as a player.

Marc Gasol's NBA career

Gasol's career connects to some fantastic NBA lore as well. The Los Angeles Lakers selected Gasol with the 48th overall pick of the 2007 NBA draft and stashed him overseas. Daryl Morey's Houston Rockets, among other teams, passed on Gasol in that draft due to a nickname staff had assigned to him following a shirtless photo they had seen of the young Spanish big man: Man Boobs.

After Gasol's NBA success, Morey continued to resent how he let the nickname drown out what his models told him about Gasol's potential in the NBA and thus, banned nicknames forever in regards to player analysis.

After the Lakers obtained Gasol's draft rights, they went on to trade Marc's draft rights to the Memphis Grizzlies in exchange for his older brother, Pau Gasol. The brothers went on to find great success with their respective teams.

Marc officially joined the Grizzlies for the 2008-09 season and spent 10 seasons there where he won NBA Defensive Player of the Year in 2013 and made All-NBA Second team, made three All-Star games in 2012, 2015, and 2017. Gasol was also First-Team All-NBA for the 2014-15 season. During the 2018-19 season, Gasol was traded to the Toronto Raptors at the 2019 NBA trade deadline and proved to be a key acquisition as he helped the team lift their first-ever NBA championship that season.

The younger Gasol brother spent one more season with the Raptors, and then joined the Los Angeles Lakers for his final season in the NBA. After his season with the Lakers, he joined Basquet Girona, the club he founded and is now the Chairman of. He helped Girona get promoted to the Liga ACB in Spain as the final achievement of his playing career.

During his time as a youngster at Barcelona, M. Gasol was a teammate of now Barcelona head coach Roger Grimau. After Barcelona's recent EuroLeague victory, Grimau commented on Gasol's retirement.

"I was fortunate to share the locker room with him... I like his values," Grimau said in a post game press conference. "Going to the NBA and then Girona, the club he’s in love with. What he’s done for them defines who he is as a person. Someone who gives love back."

Gasol's resume as a player is officially closed and includes Tennessee's 2003 Division 2 Mr. Basketball, a 2004 ACB championship, a 2008 ACB MVP, two All-NBA selections, three All-Star selections, Defensive Player of the Year, a 2019 NBA championship, two Olympic silver medals, two FIBA World Cup gold medals, and two FIBA Eurobasket gold medals. His resume is just as unique as him.