By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
Interviewed by Marca, the president of the Spanish basketball federation Jorge Garbajosa has talked about the recent successes of the Spanish national team and about his personal near future.
The former Toronto Raptors, Real Madrid, and Unicaja Malaga will run for the head of FIBA Europe, leaving the Spanish basketball federation after 7 years. “After seven years in the Federation, to which I have given my life, many hours of work, but which has also given me much more than what I gave it, I have decided that I have to give a step forward. I have given everything to the limit of my strength and I need to go further”, the 46-year-old commented.
Jorge Garbajosa went on to speak about what he feels about FIBA Europe. “I have the feeling, although I highly respect the institutions, that time has not been used well or not as well as it should have been in recent years. I have the feeling that Europe has lost leadership in International basketball in recent years and I think a new impulse is needed. From the presidency, new ideas, new energy, and a different impulse are needed. Europe has to be the engine of basketball in the world. Either we have ceased to be or we run the risk of ceasing to be”, he said.
Asked about his favorite moments as head of the world of basketball in Spain, Jorge Garbajosa spoke about the last EuroBasket. “My favorite moment, the one where I have cried the most with absolute happiness, was winning EuroBasket 2022 because the road was so hard and so beautiful at the same time. Seeing the players how they gave themselves, seeing Sergio enjoying the greatest challenge he has ever had in his career, to see everyone having fun”, Garbajosa said.
However, he has faced adversities and obstacles as well. “The entire Lorenzo Brown case… There were very hard moments on this road. Probably that day I decided to take the step to FIBA Europe: we reached so high in the competition that I probably decided at this moment. There were bad days, we have gone through many, and the road was hard. The elimination from EuroBasket and not qualifying for the World Cup was a very hard moment personally. The Women’s Project is inalienable, but the entire program had to be redone. That night was the hardest as president”, he added.
PHOTO CREDIT: Spanish Basketball Federation