Pau Gasol made his debut this Friday on the benches as ‘honorary coach’ in the NBA All-Star and, in addition, won the tournament among rookie players (‘rookies’), second-year players (‘sophomores’ ) and youth from the G-League development league.
The team led by Gasol won this tournament and the Puerto Rican point guard José Alvarado was chosen MVP. “I loved how we played, how we competed, how we managed every second,” Gasol said on the track after winning the tournament.
The double NBA champion with the Lakers praised the attitude of his players and, especially, Alvarado’s competitive character. “It was great to see José come here to play. I’m just proud of these guys (…), very happy for them. Congratulations, team,” he said.
With Salt Lake City (Utah, USA) taken by the NBA to celebrate the All-Star until Sunday, Gasol sat on the bench just a few hours after he was announced this Friday as one of the twelve finalists for this year to enter the Basketball Hall of Fame.
In addition, his participation in the Salt Lake City event as a ‘technical’ (as a player he was a six-time All-Star) came just a few weeks before he will receive a very special tribute in Los Angeles on March 7: the withdrawal of his jersey from the Lakers.
The Spaniard was one of the former NBA players chosen as ‘honorary coaches’ for this All-Star event along with Deron Williams, Jason Terry and Joakim Noah.
Gasol chose the players for his team and thus led a team made up of Puerto Rican José Alvarado (New Orleans Pelicans), Paolo Banchero (Orlando Magic), Scottie Barnes (Toronto Raptors), Jaden Ivey (Detroit Pistons), Bennedict Mathurin (Indiana Pacers), Keegan Murray (Sacramento Kings) and Andrew Nembhard (Indiana Pacers).
This tournament, called ‘Jordan Rising Stars’, consisted of three matches: two semifinals (Team Pau against Team Deron and Team Jason against Team Joakim) and a final between the winners of those first two matches. Each team had 7 players from a pool of 28 in total between ‘rookies’, ‘sophomores’ and youngsters from the G-League.
The semifinals were played by the first team that reached 40 points while the final was won by the first team to reach 25 points.
Team Pau clearly prevailed in the first semifinal by 40-25 thanks, in large part, to the 13 points of an Alvarado who was very involved in the match from the beginning. The Puerto Rican not only signed a house trademark steal after the other team’s serve, but he also excelled with several penetrations to the basket.
Team Joakim defeated Team Jason in the other semifinal (40-32) so the final measured two teams led by Gasol and Noah, who were teammates in the Chicago Bulls as well as rivals with the teams of Spain and France.
“It’s great, it’s the game we wanted,” Gasol said on the TNT broadcast, noting that “fortunately” the draw did not match them in the semifinals.
Much more competitive than the two previous duels, the final between the teams of Gasol and Noah reached the final stretch with a tie at 16.
At the decisive moment, Alvarado reappeared, giving his team victory (25-20) with a great three-pointer on the buzzer to the delight of a Gasol who raised his arms with his first victory from the bench.
