MANILA, Philippines — FIBA World Cup champion and Spanish basketball icon Pau Gasol relished the unique opportunity for European basketball to show its wares as the 2023 FIBA World Cup is set to have an all-European final at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City on Sunday.
Despite many favoring a North American final between Team USA and Canada, both teams were ousted by Germany and Serbia, respectively, in the semifinals as the region made a name for itself as a legitimate powerhouse in the sport.
Having been around that brand of basketball for a long time, Gasol expressed excitement for the players who have earned their keep in making it to the sport’s biggest stage.
“I think European basketball, international basketball has been on the map now for a minute, for a few years,” said Gasol during the World Cup ambassadors’ talk show at Sofitel last Saturday.
“The game has become so global, players have grown, players have believed, they work hard, and they got better globally. I think that’s a credit to a lot of different people and different factors so, it’s great to see two teams that have earned their way really.”
Apart from the finalists, other European teams like Latvia, Lithuania, and Italy, among others, have shown immense promise in the tournament.
Instead of focusing on the uniqueness of the all-European final, Gasol simply beamed pride at the players’ efforts of reaching the pinnacle of men’s basketball.
For any team, no matter where they’re from, it would’ve always been difficult.
Now with the stage set, the two-time NBA champion is simply eager to watch the action unfold.
“I don’t know how meaningful it is, I’m sure it definitely has meaning because it’s not easy to get, it’s not easy to beat the USA team, with their talented team and it’s not easy to beat a very good Canadian team that played a very good tournament. So again, we’ll see at the final,” he said.
“We’ll be excited as the bronze medal game will be [exciting too] and I’m just obviously excited for those teams. I’m always happy for the teams that make it to that moment and have that opportunity to win a gold medal because it’s something very rare and difficult to achieve,” he continued.
FIBA will crown Sunday evening a third different FIBA World Cup champion in just as many editions after USA and Spain winning it all in the 2014 and 2019 editions of the tournament, respectively.