While Pau Gasol nears the end of his playing career, he isn’t ready to consider retirement quite yet. The six-time NBA All-Star hasn’t played basketball in over a year after suffering from a stress fracture in his left foot and signing this year with the Portland Trail Blazers.
During a chat with the Spanish media, the 39-year-old player said that he would like to play one more season with the Los Angeles Lakers or Barcelona. After suffering from the injury in March 2019, he ended up leaving the franchise without making a single appearance.
But, Gasol isn’t ready to part from basketball just yet and he’s hoping to be part of Spain’s basketball team at the Olympics in Tokyo next year. To prepare for this, he plans to play another season with the NBA or Europe.
“My intention is to play another season if the foot is OK, either in the NBA or in Europe. A final season with the Lakers is attractive, finishing at Barca is attractive, but you have to see the real possibilities and see what situation would be best for the circumstances of the moment.”
This all depends on how his foot heals. “When I can start running and jumping I will have a lot more information to know for sure if the foot and the bone are consolidated for me to be playing professional basketball again,” Gasol added.
During his time with the NBA, Gasol has played 19 seasons for teams including the Memphis Grizzlies, Los Angeles Lakers, and San Antonio Sprurs. He’s won two NBA titles with the Lakers, had six All-Star appearances, and made the All-NBA team four times.
