By Antonis Stroggylakis/ info@eurohoops.net
Yesterday, various reports from Spain mentioned that Marc Gasol has yet to recover from his foot injury and won’t be able to take part in the squad that will compete in the Olympic Games.
While nothing official has been confirmed yet, the Memphis Grizzlies center posted a tweet which can be pretty much interpreted as a confirmation of his withdrawal from the Spanish national team. Then again, perhaps it was just his way of saying that is bound to return stronger after his long period of absence from basketball courts.
“Sometimes you have to get knocked down lower than you have ever been, to stand up taller than you ever were”, is written in the picture with the motivational message he tweeted.
Gasol underwent a surgery on February to repair a fracture on his right foot, thus being forced to stay at the pits for the remainder of the season. Apart from grievously hurting the Grizzlies’ playoff chances, his injury took a toll on his psychology apart from his body.
When the time came for Spain to get things moving ahead of the Olympic Games, he put himself at coach Sergio Scariolo’s disposal for the national team’s preparation, hoping that he will fully recover in time to join the rest of his teammates in the Rio.
Things apparently didn’t go exactly as planned for the 31-year old Spaniard who looked forward to a return in his country’s national team, after taking the previous summer off and missing the Eurobasket 2015.