ESP - The Stunning Rise of Marc Gasol

GIRONA (Olympics) - One Gasol is in America, enjoying his finest hour in the NBA with the Los Angeles Lakers.

The other is in Spain, itching to prove he belongs in the world’s elite league as well alongside his big brother.

After Pau Gasol’s 36-point, 16-rebound and eight-assist performance in the Lakers’ win over the Denver Nuggets in the opening game of their first-round Western Conference play-off series, Marc Gasol talked again about the possibility of playing in the NBA in the near future.

“The best advice Pau has given me is to continue to work and think about myself and that the rest will eventually come,” Marc Gasol said.

The younger Gasol, who is 23, was drafted by the Lakers last summer.

But in order for them to acquire his brother from Memphis, they had to include his draft rights in a trade package they sent to the Grizzlies.

With Gasol among the leading contenders to capture the ACB’s MPV award this season as the undisputed star of Akasvayu Girona, there is a good chance he will sign with Memphis this summer or next.

Before he even considers that, however, Gasol wants to claim a gold medal at the Beijing Games – just as he did in 2006 at the FIBA World Championship – the summer that changed his life.

Gasol only made that team after a back injury forced Fran Vazquez to withdraw. Not only was the young Gasol in the squad, he played vital minutes and was one of the keys to the semi-final win over Argentina and the title triumph over Greece.

Now he wants gold in China.

"I wouldn´t trade an Olympic gold for an NBA ring,” he said.

“The gold in Beijing is the maximum one can aspire to from a national team level. That is why we will go really motivated.

“We (national team) have the advantage of being able to grow very fast and at times, like we saw at the EuroBasket, everything depends on a shot.”

Russia’s JR Holden made a jump shot near the end of the title game in Madrid last summer to claim the lead for his team before Spain’s Pau Gasol watched his last-second, 12-foot jumper hit the front of the rim and backboard before staying out.

“Of course it still hurts, the defeat in the final game in the EuroBasket, because it was at home in front of our fans,” Marc Gasol said.

The rise of Marc Gasol has been one of, if not the most pleasant developments in the Spanish game.

At the end of the 2004-05 campaign, he was nowhere to be found in the Barcelona line-up under coach Dusko Ivanovic, due in part because of injuries.

Taking advice from Pau, Gasol signed a loan deal with Akasvayu and under Svetislav Pesic he received plenty of playing time and helped fire the club to EuroCup glory. They beat Azovmash in a thriller in Girona.

Gasol averaged nine points and four rebounds in the FIBA Europe competition.

In that first season with Girona, he came off the bench but this season he has started and become arguably the best player in the league.

In Girona’s last game, an 82-81 triumph over Grupo Begar Leon, Gasol had 25 points and 11 rebounds.

He is averaging 16.6 points and 8.1 rebounds per game in the ACB.

The 2.15m center has played so well, in fact, that people are beginning to wonder if one day he will be as good as his brother.

“To be compared with the best player in the history to hail from Spain (Pau) is not a bad thing,” he said.

“For my brother, I feel pride and happiness. I cannot feel jealousy, even if it´s a healthy one."

FIBA