The 35-year-old half-Puerto Rican basketball star returned to the NBA only two weeks ago, but he’s already earning kudos for his strong play.
The league has named Anthony, a forward for the Portland Trail Blazers, its Western Conference Player of the Week. The Trail Blazers went 3-0, beating the Chicago Bullstwice, as well as the Oklahoma City Thunder. Anthony led those efforts, averaging 22.3 points, 7.7 rebounds and 2.7 assists.
The last time Anthony was named a player of the week was March 10, 2014, while he was a member of the New York Knicks.
Anthony has now played six games for the Trail Blazers since signing with them last month. He’s averaging 17.7 points, 6.6 rebounds and 2.2 assists in 30.7 minutes per game, while shooting 46.2 percent from the field and 37 percent from 3-point range.
Prior to inking the non-guaranteed contract with Portland, the 10-time All-Starhadn’t played since November 8, 2018, with the Houston Rockets.
The 34-year-old Spanish professional basketball player got to bask in a championship celebration for the second time in three months — and this time, he did it for his country. Tournament MVP Ricky Rubio scored 20 points, Sergio Llull added 15 and Spain won the FIBA World Cup for the second time by topping Argentina 95-75 on Sunday.
“We weren’t the most talented team,” Rubio said.
“We weren’t the bigger team. Put anything you want, but we were the team
with the biggest heart and we showed it tonight and we showed it during the
whole tournament.”
Gasol scored 14 for the winners, who never trailed and added
this crown to the one they claimed in 2006. And for him, 2019 will go down as a
year the likes of which few others have enjoyed.
The Toronto Raptors center
becomes the second player to win an NBA
title and a FIBA world gold medal in
the same year, joining Lamar Odom —
who did it for the Los
Angeles Lakers and USA Basketball in
2010. Gasol also became the 19th player to win either an NBA or WNBA crown along with a gold medal,
either of the Olympic or World Cup variety, in the same year.
The first 18 all did it for the U.S.
This time, vamos Espana!
“NBA champion and a World Cup champion as well,” Gasol
said. “What can I say? How does it sound to you? I feel very fortunate to
be in this position and be able to play this game and help these guys be part
of history of Spanish basketball.”
Llull and Rudy Fernandez
— the team captain, who initially got to accept the Naismith Trophy — went to cut down the nets shortly after the
final buzzer. Gasol carried the game ball to the gold-medal ceremony, and
Spanish fans wept in the stands during the national anthem.
Gabriel
Deck scored 24 points for Argentina (8-1), which got off to a
slow start and played uphill the rest of the way. Luis Scola was held to eight points, shooting 1-for-10 from the
floor.
“We’re sad right now. We’re very sad,” Scola said.
“But I feel confident, in hours, we’ll be able to look back and be very
proud. They just played better than us. They were better. They deserved to win.
They were the better team in the game and the tournament.”
Spain led 43-31 at intermission, after putting together a 14-2
run to open the game and a 17-1 run later in the half.
“This is basketball,” Argentina coach Sergio Hernandez
said. “If you play better than the other team, you win the game. And Spain
was the best team today.”
Scola, who at 39 years old was still Argentina’s best player
throughout the tournament, didn’t get on the score sheet until he made a pair
of free throws with 2:57 left in the third quarter. But they only cut Spain’s
lead to 19, and by then the Argentinian fans who stood, sang and chanted for
much of the game were relatively quiet.
The day belonged to Spain.
And the year belongs to Gasol.
“It’s unbelievable,” Gasol said.
Joining Rubio on the
all-tournament team were Gasol, Scola, France’s Evan Fournier and
Serbia’s Bogdan
Bogdanovic.
The 39-year-old Spanish professional basketball player has agreed to a one-year, $2.6 million deal with the Portland Trail Blazers, according to ESPN.
Gasol joins a reshaped Trail Blazers roster that’s prepared to make a run at a return to the Western Conferencefinals — and perhaps beyond.
On Twitter, Gasol said he’s enthused to join the Blazers.
“I’m very excited to announce that next season (my 19th in the @NBA) I’ll play for the @trailblazers,” he tweeted, adding, “Ready and happy to join one of the best teams in the league!”
Gasol will be added to a center rotation that includes Hassan Whiteside, Zach Collinsand Jusuf Nurkic — once Nurkic returns from a serious leg injury.
Portland had success with a center rotation that included Enes Kanter late last season and into the playoffs. Kanter signed with the Boston Celtics this summer.
Gasol brings the résumé of a future Hall of Famer as compiled across 18 NBA seasons, including two championships and six All-Starappearances.
He signed with the Milwaukee Bucksafter a buyout with the San Antonio Spurslast season but played only three games with Milwaukee before a season-ending foot injury.
Gasol finished the campaign having played just 30 games, averaging a career-low 3.9 points and 4.6 rebounds.
Gasol discussed a free-agent deal with the Blazers in 2016 before signing with San Antonio.
He also has played with the Memphis Grizzlies, Los Angeles Lakers and Chicago Bulls, and he had an outstanding FIBAcareer with the Spanish national team.
The 38-year-old Spanish professional basketball player and free-agent center is looking to return to the NBA after a stress fracture in his left foot cut his 2018-19 season short.
“My recovery from surgery has been smooth, and I expect to be fully cleared for basketball activities in August,” Gasol told ESPN‘sAdrian Wojnarowski. “I cannot wait to start training again.”
Gasol, who turns 39 on July 6, joined the Milwaukee Bucks after reaching a buyout agreement with the San Antonio Spurs in March. He played only three games for the Bucks before undergoing surgery to repair a navicular stress fracture in his left foot.
Gasol averaged a career-low 3.9 points and 4.6 rebounds in 30 games this season.
Lopez’s deal will put the siblings on the same team for the first time in the NBA.
Lopez, a 7-foot center, saw his playing time decrease in each of his three seasons with the Chicago Bulls, and he averaged just 21.7 minutes in 2018-19 as Chicago increasingly gave its younger players more of a run.
Though Bulls coach Jim Boylenpraised Lopez for his professionalism and willingness to help Chicago’s young core while sacrificing his own stats, the Bulls had a roster crunch with big men, as 2018 lottery pick Wendell Carter Jr., Lauri Markkanen and Cristiano Felicio previously had signed multi-year deals.
Lopez is entering his 12th NBA season, with previous stops with the Phoenix Suns, New Orleans Hornets, Portland Trail Blazers and the New York Knicks. He holds career averages 9.1 points, 5.3 assists and 1.2 blocks while shooting 53.1% from the field.
The 31-year-old half-Cuban American professional basketball player has agreed to a new four-year, $52 million deal with the Milwaukee Bucks, according to ESPN.
It’s possible that no single player changed his future more over the course of the last year than Lopez did by signing with the Bucks.
After the 2015-16 season — Lopez’s eighth in the NBA— he had gone a combined 3-for-21 from 3-point range. Since then, though, he has shot a staggering 1,224 three-pointers — including taking almost twice as many triples (512) as 2s (274) this past season with the Bucks.
And after signing with Milwaukee last year for their biannual exception, worth $3.4 million, Lopez became an essential part of the team’s remarkable turnaround this season and its elite units at both ends of the court.
That allowed Lopez to enter free agency this summer as one of the top free-agent centers on the market, and put him back in line for the kind of payday he received with his prior contract — a three-year, $60 million deal with the Brooklyn Netsin 2015.
In addition to setting career highs in 3-point makes, attempts and percentage (36.5) this past season, Lopez also averaged 12.5 points and a career-high 2.2 blocks per game.
Lionel Messiis kickin’ it to the top of the popularity charts…
The 31-year-old Argentine soccer star is the top-ranking Latino on ESPN’s World Fame 100 list, which identifies the most famous athletes in the world.
Messi, a five-time Ballon d’Or winner who plays for the Spanish club BarcelonaFC and the Argentina national team, comes in at No. 3 on this year’s list, behind soccer rival Cristiano Ronaldo and NBAsuperstar LeBron James. It’s the same position Messi held last year.
The World Fame 100 ranks athletes based on their Google search score, their endorsement dollars and social media followers.
Nipping at Messi’s heels… Neymar.
The 27-year-old Brazilian soccer star, who plays for the Brazil national team and French club Paris Saint-Germain, comes in at No. 4, the same position he held in 2018.
Also earning a spot in the Top 10… Rafael Nadal.
The 32-year-old Spanish tennis star comes in at No. 8, two spots behind his rival Roger Federer. Nadal held the same ranking last year.
In all, Latino athletes took up 23 spots on the list, the majority of them international soccer players like Andres Iniesta (Spain), James Rodriguez (Colombia), Alexis Sanchez (Chile) and Javier Hernandez (Mexico).
Mexican boxer Canelo Alvarezis the sole Latino boxer on the list, at No. 68, while Puerto Rican basketball player Carmelo Anthony, at No. 65, is the only Latino basketball player to make the grade.
There are no Latina athletes on this year’s list, which features tennis sensation Serena Williams as the top female athlete at No. 17.
Here’s a look at the Latinos who made the World Fame 100:
Rank, Name, Sport, Country, Search Score, Endorsements, Social Stats No. 3, Lionel Messi, Soccer, Argentina, 54, $28m, 103.1 million No. 4, Neymar, Soccer, Brazil, 55, $19m, 107.2 million No. 8, Rafael Nadal, Tennis, Spain, 40, $29.3m, 15.6 million No. 27, Andres Iniesta, Soccer, Spain, 8, $2.2m, 26.7 million No. 29, James Rodriguez, Soccer, Colombia, 11, $4.8m, 40.5 million No. 36, Luis Suarez, Soccer, Uruguay, 6, $7.4m, 31.2 million No. 38, Sergio Ramos, Soccer, Spain, 13, $4m, 28.7 million No. 44, Marcelo Vieira, Soccer, Brazil, 4, $3.2m, 33.8 million No. 48, Radamel Falcao, Soccer, Brazil, 4, $4m, 16.9 million No. 52, Sergio Aguero, Soccer, Argentina, 1, $6m, 28.7 million No. 53, David De Gea, Soccer, Spain, 3, $7m, 11.8 million No. 55, Paulo Dybala, Soccer, Argentina, 4, $4.03m, 24.7 million No. 56, Dani Alves, Soccer, Brazil, 2, $8.75m, 21.5 million No. 61, Philippe Coutinho, Soccer, Brazil, 15, $3.1m, 19.3 million No. 62, David Luiz, Soccer, Brazil, 1, $1.3m, 24.9 million No. 65, Carmelo Anthony, Basketball, USA, 6, $7m, 9.1 million No. 66, Gerard Pique, Soccer, Spain, 5, $3.8m, 18.6 million No. 68, Canelo Alvarez, Boxing, Mexico, 44, $2.5m, 4 million No. 72, Alexis Sanchez, Soccer, Chile, 24, $3.8m, 9.6 million No. 79, Cesc Fabregas, Soccer, Spain, 1, $5m, 10.3 million No. 80, Gonzalo Higuain, Soccer, Argentina, 7, $6m, 6.8 million No. 81, Isco, Soccer, Spain, 2, $5m, 16.4 million No. 88, Javier Hernandez, Soccer, Mexico, 6, $9.9m, 5.1 million
The Memphis Grizzlies have traded the 24-year-old Spanish professional basketball player to the Toronto Raptors in exchange for Jonas Valanciunas, Delon Wright, CJ Miles and a 2024 second-round draft pick.
“Marc brings significant playoff experience to our team, which along with his savviness and leadership skills really helps position us for our ultimate postseason goal,” Raptors president Masai Ujirisaid Thursday night. “We look forward to welcoming Marc to our city and team.”
Head coach Nick Nursesaid he believes Gasol’s experience will give the Raptors “a settling force” come playoff time.
“I think that there’s a lot of positives with a guy like Gasol, and I think most of them come with being battle-tested,” Nurse said. “I think we all know that those playoffs can get wild and woolly, and he’s a guy that’s been through them many times.”
Gasol is averaging 15.7 points, 8.6 rebounds and a career-high 4.7 assists (which ranks second among NBAcenters, trailing only Nikola Jokic‘s 7.7). He is the Grizzlies’ franchise leader in points, rebounds, blocks and field goals made.
Gasol has been with the Grizzlies for 11 seasons, which was tied with Russell Westbrook for the fourth-longest tenure with one franchise among active players.
A three-time All-Starand the 2013 Defensive Player of the Year, Gasol has a 15 percent trade bonus that is valued at $1.28 million. The amount of his bonus (if not waived) will be applied to his $24.1 million salary.
Gasol also has a $25.6 million player option for next season.
The 24-year-old Puerto Rican Latin trap and reggaetonsinger will compete at this year’s NBA Celebrity All-Star Game on February 15 when All-Star Weekend takes over Charlotte, North Carolina.
Bad Bunny, whose real name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, will compete alongside last year’s MVP Quavo, emerging comedian Amanda Seales and NBA Hall of Fame sharpshooter Ray Allenon the away side.
The home team will be made up of players with Carolina ties including lyrical assassin Rapsodyand Terrence J.
For the first time, the matchup will honor a pair of hometown heroes, as a former Marine and a 29-year-old who disarmed a gunman will be suiting up for the game. This year’s contest once again teams up with Rufflesfor a lengthy 4-point line titled “The Ridge.”
The 2019 NBA Celebrity All-Star Game tips off at 7:00 pm ET on February 15 live on ESPN from the Bojangles’ Coliseum in Charlotte.
The 41-year-old Argentine professional basketball player, a guard with the San Antonio Spurs since the 2002-2003 NBA season,announced Monday that he’s retiring.
“Today, with a wide range of feelings, I’m announcing my retirement from basketball,” he announced in a tweet. “It’s been a fabulous journey. Way beyond my wildest dreams.”
Ginobili, a future Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer, had been working out regularly at the Spurs’ practice facility as he considered his decision to retire.
The Spurs had been hopeful that Ginobili would want to return for a 17th season and allowed him to take all the time he needed to decide, league sources had told ESPN. The team thanked Ginobili in a tweet and video Monday.
His decision brings a historic 16-season run with the Spurs to an end. He is one of the most decorated international players in basketball history, a four-time NBA champion, a two-time NBA All-Star, an Olympic gold medalist for Argentina and a EuroLeague MVP.
“An NBA champion and All-Star, Manu Ginobili is also a pioneer who helped globalize the NBA,” NBA commissioner Adam Silversaid. “He is one of basketball’s greatest ambassadors who believes in the power of sports to change lives. And for 16 years, we were fortunate to watch a legend compete at the highest level. Thank you, Manu, for a career that inspired millions of people around the world.”
Ginobili played 1,057 regular-season and 218 playoff games with the Spurs, ranking in the franchise’s top five all time in games, points (14,043), assists (4,001) and steals (1,392). He averaged 8.9 points and 20 minutes a game for the Spurs last season.
“A role model for all of us that love this wonderful sport,” Spurs forward Pau Gasol said.
Ginobili’s pro career lasted 23 seasons in all, starting with stints in Italy and Argentina. His drawing power was massive even in his final season, and it was common for him to spend plenty of time before road games posing for photos and signing autographs — often international fans proudly displaying an Argentine flag.
“He has the talent to continue playing for five years, but we have to respect his decision. Us Argentinians, we are so proud of him. We wish all the best in the new life,” said Juan Martin del Potro, who thanked Ginobili after his victory Monday at the US Open.
Ginobili had one year left on his contract, worth $2.5 million.
The smooth left-handed guard from Argentina came to San Antonio in 2002, forming what quickly became a powerful big three alongside Tim Duncanand Tony Parker. Now, they’ve all moved on: Duncan retired two years ago, Parker left San Antonio earlier this summer as a free agent to sign with the Charlotte Hornets, and Ginobili has worn Spurs colors for the last time as well.
“I had left the door open just in case, but now I am convinced and happy about the decision I made,” Ginobili said, as quoted in Argentina newspaper La Nacion.
Duncan, Parker, Ginobili and Kawhi Leonardwere the backbone of San Antonio’s drive to its most recent NBA championship in 2014, and this will be the first time Gregg Popovichbegins a season as the Spurs’ head coach with none of those players on the roster. Leonard was traded to the Toronto Raptorsfor DeMar DeRozan earlier this summer, the end of a relationship in San Antonio that had apparently gone too sour to save.
Leonard’s departure meant Ginobili would have been the last significant player tied to the Spurs’ title years. But in the end, retirement was his call.
Ginobili, even though he was often coming off the bench, has a résumé of postseason production like almost no one else. Only two players have more than 800 rebounds, 800 assists and 300 3-pointers in their playoff careers — Ginobili and LeBron James.
Ginobili’s final game was April 24, when the Spurs were ousted from the Western Conference playoffs by the eventual champion Golden State Warriors. San Antonio lost the series 4-1.
