Also, if you're talking "history of the NBA", it's Hakeem, right? Not even close?
I loved he said that anyway, lots of Spaniards think Gasol is the best foreign player in the NBA.
Mate, why did you "love" that he said that? What is the problem with Spanish basketball fans thinking he is the best international player in the league? I assume it is quite normal Spaniards would be biased towards this thought. Fans in any sports stick to their favorite players and most of the time tend to overrate them. Furthermore, labeling someone as the best or not is something rather subjective anyway.
And no, Paul did for sure not pick Ginobili out of swingmen solidarity - same as he did not choose Gasol as the best international player just because he was infornt of a Spanish audience - he chose him because right now he probably IS the best international player and we tend to consider actual players more strongly than ancient ones. And on a tyrack record basis Ginobili is right up there anyway: Olympic Gold, World Championship Silver, 3 NBA Titles, Euroleague, Italian Championship...
But that "love what he said comment"... either it's sour grapes towards us Spaniards or you tell me...
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Well, Ginobili is not a better NBA player than Dirk or Nash, in my surely subjective opinion. I'd give him the edge over Yao, because of the durability aspects. His accolades are certainly impressive, and he played a major role in every one of them. But, come on, if San Antonio had traded his rights for Dirk back in 2002, who would be the one with more rings?
About Gasol: he's undoubtedly a great player, All-Star material, a top-10 international player ever, I was always a fan of him (at least until he joined the Lakers), although he's has been declining since he started putting weight to play at the 5. If it wasn't that, he'd probably belong to the conversation about who's the best international player. No sour grapes whatsoever. But I spend lots of time in Spain, talking to Spaniards, reading Spanish newspapers and I had to watch some playoffs games in Canal+. And the love towards Gasol, especially during the playoffs, was unbereable. Carnicero and Longar were so biased that I had to mute the tv set. Nothing serious, I guess it's the same thing that others teams fans feel when they are listening to Tommy. I understand that Spaniards are biased towards Gasol. But I'm also entitled to an anti-bias bias, am I not? I know it sounded mean, and I regret that, but all men are flawed...
Topic: Paul Pierce chat in Spanish newspaper (Read 5759 times)