Pau Gasol #16 Forward

Born: Jul 6, 1980
Height: 7-0 / 2,13
Weight: 260 lbs. / 117,9 kg.
College: Spain
Years Pro: 6





Named MVP of the 2006 FIBA World Championships in leading Spain to the gold medal, despite missing the final due to a broken fifth metatarsal in his left foot • Played for Spain in the 2004 Olympics, averaging 22.4 ppg, and 7.3 rpg • Parents are Marisa, a physician, and father, Agusti, a hospital administrator • Has two younger brothers: Adria and Marc, a 6-10 center who played high school basketball at Lausanne in Memphis for two seasons before joining Pau’s former team of F.C. Barcelona back in Spain • Pau and Marc were teammates on the Spanish national team during the 2006 World Championships • Parents both played second-division basketball in Spain • His parents and brothers lived with him in Memphis during his rookie season • Speaks three languages: Catalan, Spanish and English • Native of Catalonia, a region on the coast of Spain • Planned to become a doctor and attended a year of medical school at the University of Barcelona at age 18 until pro basketball changed his plans • Began playing at the age of seven, and started as a point guard until he was 13 • First contact with the NBA was at age 12, watching the original Dream Team on television win the Olympic Gold Medal in Barcelona in 1992 • Lists Michael Jordan as the most exciting player he’s ever played against • Is a five-year sponsor of Tickets for Kids with “Pau’s Amigos” • Is a member of the Grizzlies’ All-Star Reading Team, and has participated in the Grizzlies’ Stay in School Challenge Reception • Participated in the Read to Achieve Tip-off event at the Collierville Town Library last season where he read to kids, signed autographs and helped open the reading and learning center inside the library • Has done public service announcements for Memphis City Schools Reads, UNICEF and Memphis City Schools Fight Free Fifty, which encourages MCS students to go 50 days without fighting in school • Met with patients of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital during their Thanks & Giving Campaign last year • Along with the PSA he did for UNICEF, during the summer of 2005 he visited South Africa with the organization to act as an ambassador in the fight against AIDS.