Pau Gasol Hints at Return to Europe ... Someday

In this global economy, we all should really speak every language in existence. If nothing else, so when foreign NBA players give provocative interviews to non-English press, we can figure out exactly what happened. Case in point: Here’s a tidy quote from Sport, translated by HoopsHype:↵↵⇥[Pau] Gasol: I would like to return to Europe one day to keep winning titles.↵⇥
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↵⇥Sport: With Barça, I guess?↵⇥
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↵⇥Gasol: Hopefully with them.↵↵Okay, so I can’t tell you what the context or tone was. And I hope at least a few people have learned from Howard-gate that these things matter. I seriously doubt, though, that it means Gasol is looking to jump ship anytime soon; it’s probably less of a threat than even Andrei Kirilenko’s annual grousing. The “one day” suggests that this is a “when it’s all over” deal, something he’s looking to do in the twilight of his career. Though if the gulf between the NBA and the rest of the world continues to dwindle, would this sentimental mission of Gasol’s be such an afterthought?↵
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↵It’s strange that, while everyone else is focused on bringing Europe up to the NBA’s level, Gasol -- one of the top three or four international players in the Association -- is talking about competing there like it would be sleep-walking. You know, return “one day” to get some titles. Come on dude, get on message! Or at least feel some pride in the current rise in Euro credibility. Here’s hoping he said “when the money’s eventually right, I’ll come back to Spain and take on the NBA, like we did in that Olympics game but for an entire season.”↵