Spain's Gasol defied doctor's orders, played beyond minutes limit vs. Poland
Unlike fellow NBA stars Ricky Rubio, Serge Ibaka, and brother Marc, Pau Gasol of the Chicago Bulls elected to lace up his sneakers for Spain at the Eurobasket tournament this summer.
At 35 years old, perhaps the wily veteran would have been wise to sit out the festivities and rest his aching body. Then again, with national pride at stake and a spot at the 2016 Olympic Games up for grabs, Gasol clearly didn't want to leave anything up to chance.
In Saturday's 80-66 Round-of-16 victory over Poland, Gasol led Spain with 30 points, including 18 from 3-point range on 6-of-7 shooting. He also chipped in seven rebounds and four assists in 31 minutes of action, which turned out to be well beyond what he was supposed to play.
"The doctors told me that Pau couldn't play more than five minutes straight," Spanish coach Sergio Scariolo said during a post-game press conference, according to EuroHoops.Net (via CBS Sports).
"But after the first five minutes, when I asked him to come to bench he told me no. 'I will take the risk', he answered me and he had an amazing game."
Gasol was reportedly in a great deal of pain prior to tip-off, needing to run to the locker room to get treatment. He may have a few more aches and pains after his dazzling performance, but that won't be enough to keep him from competing in Spain's quarterfinal matchup with Greece on Tuesday.
“I never jumped off the boat and I will not do that now," Gasol said. "We play against Greece, I will play for sure”.
One of the reasons former head coach Tom Thibodeau was relieved of his duties was the extraordinary toll he put on his players, with Gasol ranking 10th overall in minutes per game in the Eastern Conference last season at 34.4. Teammate Jimmy Butler led all NBA players with 38.7.
There's apparently little concern on the part of Bulls management to the workload Gasol is currently shouldering in the tournament, though, according to CSN Chicago's Vincent Goodwill.