Untitled Document Essay

Submitted By RyanRghjfg
Words: 508
Pages: 3

Ryan Riordan Espanol
12­6­14

I decided to do my spanish influence report on Pau Gasol, who is a professional basketball player for the Chicago Bulls. He is seven feet tall, and weighs 250 pounds. His former teams were the Memphis Grizzlies, and the Los Angeles Lakers. He also plays on Spain’s national team. He is a four time NBA All Star, and has won the NBA Championship twice.

Pau was born on July 6, 1980 in Barcelona, Spain. He originally wanted to be a doctor when he was growing up, but became more interested in the sport of basketball as he grew older.
His basketball career began when he played for his school team, but he signed with the
Barcelona basketball team when he was 16. After he won the Most Valuable Player Award for the Spanish National Cup game he entered the NBA draft. He was selected third overall by the
Atlanta hawks, but was then traded to the Memphis Grizzlies. After his first season in the NBA
Pau won the Rookie of the Year award. After a few seasons with the team he was traded to the
Los Angeles Lakers for his brother, Marc Gasol. He left the Grizzlies with many team records, including points, rebounds, and blocked shots. With the Lakers he has won two championshipd.

He was the bearer of Spain's’ national flag in the 2012 Olympic Games. He has won a gold medal for Spain’s basketball team.

Although he is mainly known for his basketball career, Pau is also a part of an organization called NBA Cares, and the No Hype Campaign, which aims to bring awareness about reducing demand for ivory and rhino horn. As many as 30,000 elephants have been killed for their horns, which people use to make money. Pau, and many others want to bring an end to people buying these products, so less animals would be getting killed. He has taken trips to
Africa to promote the cause. Gasol has also joined the Hoops for St.Jude program, which benefits the St.Jude’s
Research Hospital. He has taken many trips to different hospitals to visit