Originally wanted to be a doctor… On November 8, 1991, Magic Johnson announced that he he was HIV positive. That day, according to Sports Illustrated, Pau Gasol, all of 11 years old, decided to become a doctor in the hope of curing AIDS. With his mother being a doctor and his father a hospital administrator, it certainly made sense. And at 18, he enrolled in medical school, but that wouldn’t last, because professional basketball came calling. First played professionally in Spain… In 1998, he played for Barcelona’s junior team, helping them win the European Junior Championship. Later, in 2001, he was named the MVP as the senior Barcelona team won the Spanish National Cup championship. Soon after, he entered the 2001 NBA Draft and was the third overall pick by the Atlanta Hawks, who then traded his draft rights to the Memphis Grizzlies, a team that, nearly seven years later, traded him to the Los Angeles Lakers. As it happens, one of the players the Grizzlies got in that trade was Pau’s brother, Marc. With the Lakers, Gasol has won one NBA title and is currently looking for his second. And has always been philanthropic… While he may have temporarily given up his dream of being a doctor, he’s still very involved in improving the health of others. In 2003, he was named the Ambassador for Spain’s UNICEF Committee, and he’s visited South Africa and Angola in that capacity, specializing in “the promotion and defense of the rights of the world’s children and the fight against HIV/AIDS.” He’s also an official partner with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis and Children’s Hospital in Hollywood. In fact, he’s so knowledgeable that, unless his playoff schedule got in the way, Gasol was even supposed to sit in on a spinal surgery this past April.
By the Numbers:
- In May, Gasol and UNICEF won the NBA Cares Charity Challenge, meaning a $10,000 donation for UNICEF.
- In the 2001-2002 season, he was named the NBA’s Rookie of the Year, leading all rookies in five different categories, including scoring and rebounding.
- On January 22, Gasol scored 20 points against the New York Knicks, which meant $20,000 for Haiti relief efforts.
- Playing on Spain’s national team, he helped them take home a silver medal in the 2008 Summer Olympics, losing to the USA and current teammate Kobe Bryant.
- Last October, at the fifth annual Angel Awards Celebration, Gasol was awarded the Athlete of the Year Angel Award for his work with the East Los Angeles Community Youth Center.
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Photo by Keith Allison via Wikimedia Commons.