Pau Gasol on the 2026 FIBA Women’s World Cup, Representing Spain, and Why Team USA is Tough to Beat

0:00Support for the show comes from JustWorks. If you're a small business owner, you're used to rolling up your sleeves to get things done. In fact, you probably love it, but that doesn't mean you should spend your Saturday night staring at tax and payroll forms when you could be strategizing your next move. That's why JustWorks handles the stuff you can't afford to get wrong. They combine intuitive software with real people, all working to help keep your eye on the big picture. So instead of stretching yourself thin, you can focus and shoot your small business shot. You don't have to worry when it just works. JustWorks.com to learn more. Running a business shouldn't feel like surviving a software group project, one after accounting another for inventory another for sales, and somehow, none of them talk to each other. That's where O2 comes in, and all in one business management software that brings every part of your business together. From sales and accounting to inventory and marketing, all in one powerful platform. No messy integrations, no bouncing between tabs, and best of all, no spreadsheets. Not managing software and start managing your business with one unified system.

1:02Try for free today at od.com slash box. That's od.o.com slash box. Nothing is enough or nothing will be good enough unless we win the gold. Playing with that determination, with that grit, with that approach, with that hunger. You have a better chance. You have an edge. You have an edge. Right. I think you just wrote my speech for what I'm going to say to the team before they take the floor. This broke up. Hey everybody, welcome back to Bird's Eye View. Yes, the WNBA is on a break, but that doesn't mean the basketball has stopped. In fact, the basketball has gotten even more competitive during this time. It's actually a very special time of the year for the women's game. It is the FIBA women's world cup. The best 16 women's basketball teams from around the world have descended upon Berlin, Germany, to battle for the 2026 world cup title.

2:05It's why we recorded this episode a couple of weeks ago because I am on the ground in Berlin with team USA as we speak or as you listen. Joining me on the pod this week is somebody who knows a thing or two about the global game. Not only is he a two time NBA champion with the Los Angeles Lakers, but he helped Spain to its first FIBA World Cup title in 2006. He was like 26 years old, one MVP, incredible. He was inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame in 2025 as the most successful basketball player in Spain's history. This year he joins me as one of the, actually I joined him as one of the global ambassadors for the FIBA women's basketball world cup. Following his commitment to growing the women's game worldwide, the legendary, the international icon in Pagasal is my guest this week. We're going to talk about the importance of global competition, rising stars from our respective countries, and of course this year's tournament in Berlin, which he is also at. But listen, before we get to the interview, you know what time it is.

3:08It's time for Suseview. So for this week's Suseview, I'm calling it the FIBA edition for obvious reasons, very creative there. So I just want to set the stage a little bit. You know, something that people might not know about the FIBA World Cup is generally speaking, even though the Olympics for women's basketball is much bigger, has a lot more notoriety to it, feels like the stakes are higher, which by the way, it's the Olympics, of course they are. The World Cup is actually harder. It used to be even harder. They've actually changed the competition system. So you only play, if you go to the final six games now, it used to be like eight, nine, but it's the qualification. For the Olympics, it's a little more like geography-based, certain areas of the world have to have representation for the World Cup. It's basically like a little bit of geography, but basically best team gets in. So you might see more teams from Europe as an example in this competition in the World

4:11Cup than you do in the Olympics. So that's just something to noodle on. I would say in my experience, and I'll hit you guys with my favorite memory, I would say my experience, the World Cup was harder. Not that the Olympics wasn't hard. And I think that's something with Team USA, with USA basketball, because of our gold medals and our success, people kind of assume, and maybe they do see some lopsided scores. They assume all the games are like that. They're not. If I start with the Olympics really fast, every single Olympics definitely won maybe two games. We're dicey. And I remember in 2012 in London, we were down at halftime to Australia in the semis. So that always happens, but World Cup, man, even more so. And maybe I'll start with my least favorite memory, but also the moment that I think shaped my USA basketball experience. And I just mentioned how one in 2006, so great year for Spain, we lost. So in 2006, my second World Cup, my first as the starting point guard, we lost to Russia

5:15in the semis in Brazil. But like I said, even though I can think back on that game and literally give you a play-by-play of probably the entire 40 minutes starting from the beginning, but then of course some plays at the end, I really do think it shaped what ended up being the success for like my generation, my era, to make a catchings on that team, Dairossi was on that team. So I think it really motivated us and just made us realize how difficult it is and it is difficult, which is why my favorite memories, of course, are winning gold medals. But I think if I had to pick one, interestingly, I might say my last one, it was 2018, we were in Tenerife, Spain, we played a very tough game against Belgium in the semis. Go watch that game. It was not easy. Diana played amazing. Hit a bunch of threes to help us. We ended up kind of like taking care of business against us, actually in the final. And I just remember as we were getting ready to walk out to the podium to receive our

6:16medals, you know, all the teams line up, you have the third place team, they get announced, the second place team, they get announced. And we were back there and I just remember sitting down on some steps, waiting for our turn and thinking, man, like this is my last one. And just really soaking it in and you don't always get to do that when you're in the younger part of your career because there's always a next. And so you can't really think about, I mean, I'm sure you guys have heard me say this, it's not a sustainable mindset to play everything in every game like it's your last. You try to, but it's difficult. But in that moment, I really could. And in that moment, knowing we won, I could really just soak it all in. And so that is something I can like vividly remember where I was sitting, who was around me and what I was thinking. So that's probably my favorite memory. And then you know, of course, there's some off-court memories that I can't share, but it's always a good time. And now a segment I'm calling the big picture presented by Google Gemini.

7:18So I've been watching a lot of games this week and something keeps popping up that I cannot stop thinking about. 12 seconds into the shot clock and they've shot the ball twice already. It just makes me think. Hi Gemini. Team seemed to be getting into their offense earlier and earlier in the shot clock. Is this a legit trend across the week now? Yes, it's definitely a real shift. We're seeing more teams look to push the tempo off turnovers and defensive rebounds. And even in the half-court, the offense is being initiated much quicker. It's putting more pressure on defenses to get set. Yep, that's what I thought. So is it working? Are teams getting better looks? Or is it just one of those things that everybody's trying? It's definitely paying off for the teams that have the personnel for it. Pushing the pace creates transition and forces the defense to rotate before they're organized, which usually leads to high-percented shots. It's not just about playing fast, but smart, using that early clock to catch defenses off balance. Oh, totally. And I think the other thing is when you make a defense react that early, you're generally catching them off guard, which means mistakes are going to happen.

8:19Exactly. That sudden shift in focus often leads to missed switches or breakdowns in coverage. It's a domino effect that's tough to manage when the offense is pushing the pace. Whenever I'm watching a game or rewatching clips, being able to just talk out loud with Gemini without having to stop and type something out is it just makes things so much easier. I can keep up on lead trends and then I can pass that knowledge on to you. All right, let's get into the team USA roster. Obviously, I'm the managing director. The roster has been selected. We've got Kalea Copper, Chelsea Gray, Kelsey Plum, Brandon Stewart and Asia Wilson. They're returning to defend their 2022 FIBA World Cup title. So I love having a mix of vets, people that have experienced it. Because this is a different beast. This is a different beast. Anybody who watched the 2024 finals in the Olympics against France can understand that. The game is called differently by the referees. It's a different flow. The rules are different. It's an adjustment. We never have practice time. So to have people that have experienced it and tasted it and felt it is really important.

9:21But you also have to have a mix, right? You have to have some youth. Aliyah Boston, Paige Becker, Caitlin Clark, and if you're a Collier, that's her first World Cup. She's obviously been on Olympic teams. She's been on the same thing for Jackie Young. So they're like newcomers, but they're not. But then you've got Ryan Howard, Angel Reese, kind of like rounding out the roster. Yeah. So like I said, it's important to have a good mix. So that was definitely part of my, I don't want to call it criteria because that means you have to check boxes. But it was something I was thinking as I put the team together. But the true North Star, of course, is which group is going to mesh in a short time, give us a variety of things, a versatility come together in order to win a gold medal. That's it. And when I say mesh well, that is, I would say, a large portion of on court play, styles of play, what each player brings. Some of it is understanding and being around these players. I mean, some of the players I listed, I played with. Almost all the players I listed, I've played against.

10:23So I have an understanding of who they are as people. But again, it's more so what they bring to the table as basketball players. And if one person has a weakness here, the other person have a strength there, that kind of an idea. And it's never perfect. But I definitely feel like all of us at USA basketball did our best to make that happen. So for this year's World Cup, it's going to be no different from other years. It's going to be tough. It's going to be competitive. We have China in our group. They have like three players over, I think over six, seven, which is, I think, one of the most incredible. So that's going to be hard and a challenge. If you remember when I had Brittany Griner on the pod, I talked about her impact at her size in the international game. We have plenty of big players, but none that are as tall as the Chinese team. So that'll be interesting. Obviously, we bring a different versatility to our front court. I can go down the list. I'm just going to say the obvious, which is France. I've been talking about it all summer.

11:23I think everyone's been talking about it for two years now. The talent that they have, the versatility that they have. Now they're playing in the WMBA. So they're getting a taste of the American game day in and day out, which I think helps them, maybe gives them an advantage. Belgium has a bunch of WMBA players. If they're not in the WMBA this year, they have been. So you can go down the list. Australia, of course, always. On the other side, something I've talked about with Candace Parker before, less of our players are playing overseas. This is one of the first years where the USA team has less players or some that have never played overseas and tasted international basketball in like a day in and day out way, the way we did when we played in Euroleague. But then you have other countries who are now in the WMBA. And so they're getting a taste of our style. But when you play in the WMBA, what does that mean? It means you don't have practice time together. So there's like an interesting thing happening that we're all going to be seeing how it plays

12:24out on the fly. So I'm really looking forward to that. Another team that you have to keep your eye on because they're the home team, they're the host team is Germany. Incredible young talent. They showed that in the last Olympics. It's obviously incredibly sad that Sato will not be able to participate. She has really put German basketball on the map over the course of the last 10 or so years. And the fact that it's in Berlin, I just feel sad. I feel like when a player goes through injuries, the kind that keep you off the court and the kind that are just seemingly difficult to overcome. It's just always sad. I think that's one of the saddest things about sports to have it happen in the way that it's happening in terms of the timing for Sato. Also makes it really sad. So I just want to send some love out to Sato. That was really hard. She announced recently that she won't be playing. But yeah, but still Germany is still going to have all the fans behind them.

13:25They still have the only Phoebus who has been hurt in the W&B as well. So we'll see about that. Nihara Sabli, Sato sister amongst other players. So keep your eye on Germany. Let's see who else. There's just a ton of talent. I mean, you guys, if you watch the W&B, you're seeing the influx, a bunch of Spanish players. You're seeing the influx of international play. So it's really exciting. You know, I actually think this is the perfect place to just get to our conversation because there's literally nobody who knows the global game better than my guests. Let's just get to the conversation. Everybody, Paul Gassal. Support for the show comes from JustWorks. Two things are critical for success. Time and dedication. And when you put your whole self into it into building something great, that can feel like the most fulfilling thing in the world. With the reality is, it can also stretch you thin. No one player wins a championship. It's all about the teams and coaches. And as a small business owner, you need real people on your side to reach your full potential.

14:29Enter JustWorks. It's built to take work off your plate and help you orient yourself toward the things that matter most. They combine easy to use software with real people working together to support you. They're not a help to ask your ticket system. When you call JustWorks, a real human answers. They function like an extension of your team. Because the thing is, there aren't 80 versions of yourself to do it all. It takes a village to build something great. Think of it like having a coach in your corner who knows your business and has your back. That's the difference between software and a true partner. You don't have to worry when it just works. Head to JustWorks.com to learn more. Running a business shouldn't feel like surviving a software group project. One app for accounting, another for inventory, another for sales, and somehow. None of them talk to each other. That's where Odo comes in. And all in one business management software that brings every part of your business together. From sales and accounting to inventory and marketing, all in one powerful platform. No messy integrations, no bouncing between tabs, and best of all. No spreadsheets.

15:30Stop managing software and start managing your business with one unified system. Try for free today at odu.com slash box. That's oduo.com slash box. So like any good millennial, I have a love-hate relationship with Gen Z. It's the phenomenon rattling millennials. They just look at you. They want something bigger themselves, lifestyle's a priority. Motivation is being inspired. But regardless of how you feel about Gen Z, it's undeniable that they're changing national politics. Generation Z is increasingly showing less loyalty to traditional political parties. Many now more likely to identify as independent. So what is going on with the kids? I think the biggest misconception about Gen Z's politics right now is that all of a sudden they're all socialists. That is just not the case. Yeah. They are embracing candidates who are offering new bold ideas in the absence of those ideas from establishment Democrats. This week on America actually, Gen Z researcher Rachel Jem Faso joins us to separate Gen Z fact versus fiction.

16:36It's not rocket science and this is, you know, I keep saying like young voters aren't that complicated after all. It's pretty simple. Catch us every Saturday on YouTube or wherever you get your podcast. How welcome to the show. Thank you, Sue. Thanks for having me. I'm so excited. I was doing your intro. You just had such an amazing career. So much experience to pull from. We're going to get into all the world cup and what it means and you're a world cup winner. So you know that feeling. Obviously the women's world cup is coming. But real quick, I do have to ask, how are you feeling about the Lakers? And just so everyone listening, we're recording this on August 19th. I actually had Ramona on recently to talk about it a little bit. And it's like it's going to change every day. So this is August 19th. How are you feeling? I mean, I always feel good and excited. I mean, it's obviously caught me.

17:36I think like everybody else or most people of guard, you know, of, you know, the franchise has been sold basically. Yeah, it's crazy. In less than a year, twice and the evaluation numbers are insane as well. But I mean, ultimately, you know, you want to feel hopeful and excited and positive. And, you know, and intrigued as well, right? To see how things are going to play out, how things are going to be different. Obviously now we see our Genie, you know, is contesting her siblings as far as selling the, as things as 17.8 and a half remaining of the family estate. I mean, there's a legacy portion of it. I mean, change happens. Change will always happen. Change is sometimes scary. But, you know, it's, it's a great team. It's a great organization. There's a lot of potential. You have to think about, you know, how these investors are investing

18:37such huge amounts of money and the value that they see for that to make sense. And as we're seeing that in sports in general. So it's an exciting time. I think for sports is an exciting time for basketball. It's an exciting time for, you know, for women's sports and women's basketball as well, which we'll talk a little more. But, yeah, I'm excited. You know, I'm a positive person. I'm an optimist. I think, you know, you got to take advantage of this opportunities and see what happens. I'm actually flying to a late pretty soon. And I'll be touching base and seeing how things are at the time and how things will evolve, as you said, continuously probably for the next few weeks. Oh, for sure. For sure. I know you bring up the money, the valuations, like what it's being sold for. And of course, like all the people who are involved with that organization for so many years, but especially you two-time champ. You play a huge role in that. So that's kind of, that's kind of special. And I know you'll always be a Laker at heart.

19:38Yes. What's interesting when I was looking kind of at like our careers, we're at the same age. You turned pro a lot earlier than I did, but we're the same age. We're almost like a little bit in reverse. It's like I obviously started in the US. You started in Spain. So you made your name like playing in Europe, playing in your league. I made my name over here, but then there was kind of like a flip that happened. You come to the NBA. I was obviously in the WB, but then starting my European career. And I'm just curious like, obviously, there's a national team sprinkled in there. When you think about your early days in Europe, what did that do for your game? Because as somebody who's played both, like there are differences. Just in how I think basketball players are raised in a sense. I think what would help me a lot, kind of growing up in Europe and in the system is just working my fundamentals, not being put on a box, let's say.

20:39So I was able to play forward, play guard a little for a little bit, even though I was taller than most or one of the taller guys on the team. But I was so skinny that I had no interest at the time or great chance to bang with the guys that were more developed and stronger in the pain. So that came a little later. So it just gave me just a more versatile game, a better understanding of the game. There's more, I think for the most part, more Bob movement, making the right play. There's not as much or at least didn't use to be as much attention to the individual. And the money was in a factor. So we look at the American system, money is a factor. Everything seems to be very individual, oriented. And, you know, and aesthetically, you know, that's obviously guys in the NBA

21:41are very athletically gifted. So they can rely on that a lot. You kind of have to develop other skill sets if you want to be efficient and successful at the highest level. So I think it just gave me a broader game, a better understanding of the game, an ability to play the game certain way to be very fundamentally sound. And then when I came to the NBA was, you know, all that was very useful. When you think about your national team experience, something I talked about at the top of the show before you came on was just, I know, I know the US experience, you know, like we play in our league, we get together when we can, and then we go and compete. And I'm just curious as somebody who had to play against the US, just like, what is that? What's the other side of it? What's the perspective playing against Team USA? Well, Team USA is always, it's always a team to beat, right? It's always, you know, the favorite team.

22:41It's always a team that, as you said, you know, their training camps are shorter. You get together a lot less and then most of the other or all the other countries do. Also because of scheduling and so forth. But there's also that sense of like, hey, they're that good. They don't need that extra couple of weeks of training camp to be able to dominate or play or win goals and stuff. So they can potentially, you know, get away with that, if you will. So, but again, it's always been very competitive. My first encounter with playing against US teams were when I was very young, still at 17 and 18. So at 17, we played at the tournament, which is kind of the unofficial walkup in Mannheim, Mannheim in Germany. And we beat the US team in the semi-finals and we ended up winning against Australia. The final on when I was 18 and the under 18,

23:44woke up in Portugal. We beat the US in the finals. So we were called the Golden Boys. We were European Championship, European Champions, at 17, 18, then Dad, then World Championship, World Champions on the under 18 or 19 and Lisbon. And then we obviously, we face each other quite a bit throughout my, you know, the rest of my national team career. And it's always the biggest challenge. Most of the time we lost, unfortunately, but you know, it is what it is. We had two great games in the two finals in 08 and 12 in Beijing and London. Very competitive, going down to the wire, neck to neck, kind of saying, and really enjoyed those challenges and those opportunities. I mean, at least one of those would have turned into a gold medal. But the US team was pretty stacked and great competitive team and players and amazing players. So they earned it. You can congratulate them and you move forward.

24:47But yeah, but a lot of fun, I think, to me, we have a chance to play against the best. You know, that's what you work for. That's what you can ask for and you give it your best and you know, and you keep going. Yeah. Kind of piggybacking off that, you know, for me, the World Cup was always harder than the Olympics. You know, because you were a lot, it was the qualifying, the way the qualifying went. A lot more of the top teams were in the World Cup. You won in 2006, you were MVP, so you brought back the golds, the first title in Spain's history. What do you remember about that experience? It was an awesome, awesome experience. It was a great championship, happened in Japan. We played very well from the beginning to the end. We were playing at a high level. Really, you know, I think our margin of victory was significant. You know, we got to the semis, we had our toughest game yet against Argentina.

25:49It came down to the wire. I broke my foot when it was a minute and a half left, I think, in the game. I shot the two free throws with the broken foot, made them. I knew I couldn't, that was done for, not just for the game, but for the championship. And I thought, okay, we're up six, a minute and a half, we should be all right. And then the game was, I think, tight. How's the color on the line? Mrs. the first one, makes a second one. And then she normally goes down the lane, skips it to the corner to Nachoni. Nachoni wide open three from the corner and misses that three. I'm like dying on the bench. And we win. We win the game, so we made it to the finals. And then the other semis, it was the US. Yeah, Greece. Greece won the 2005 European championship, so they were playing at a high level. They were good. They were good. They played together. They played the game well, pick and roll. They pick and roll them to death.

26:50To death, I remember. And the US was still, I think it was first year, coach K coach in the team. The, you know, the Bronne, Mello, D-Wade, they were all very young. They were still kind of figuring things out and adjusting to the Fibre game. And, you know, and they didn't play well and they lost. So we faced Greece in the finals. I couldn't play, but my team played spectacularly. Did you guys blow them out? Yeah, from the beginning to the end, we blew them out by 20 plus. It was, you know, an amazing display. And I, one of the games that I enjoyed the most, and I wasn't playing. Yeah. I mean, you keep bringing up these like amazing points, which is what makes the Fibre game, in your opinion, more difficult than maybe what you see in the domestic leagues here in the US and the NBA and the WNBA. You know, it's very physical. I think the games are a little more physical.

27:51I think there's definitely more, more physicality allowed. Everybody's playing their hearts out. That's right there. That's the difference. Yeah, right? They're representing their countries. Picking a full court. Yeah. They're going in. They're going all out. They're going all out. They're going all out. If you want to win, you better bring it. So, so we, you know, you know, so now any, any team, not any team, but some teams that can, you know, if you have a night off or you're not bringing your best effort, they can beat you. And, and on the nature of the tournament, even now, you know, in the Olympics, which before there were two groups of six. So, you have five games. You know, if you messed around a game, you know, you could still be first to top of the group. But now with being just three games and groups of four and, and so forth, it's just makes it every game is really more meaningful. And then there's a knockout games, obviously, quarterfinals, semis and, and finals. And I think, you know, in the World Cups used to be ace of finals, quarterfinals, semis and finals.

28:53So, you know, you add more knockout games. So, it's, you know, it's challenging as demanding. If, again, we had some tough heartbreaking losses at that point, especially at home and in our, the, the championship that we hosted in 2020, 2007, it was a European championship. We lost a final game by one point against Russia. And I had the final shot and I missed, unfortunately, I rolled out. And then 2014, we hosted a walk up at home. We blew our blow and everybody out in quarterfinals. We lose against, against France at home. So, to probably two of the most painful losses for me and my career that I remember vividly. So, yeah, just, it's challenging. It's competitive. Everybody's just going hard. And you better, and you got to, you got to be on the top of your game. Yeah, you bring up a good point because I was talking earlier like, my World Cup days were, like, the eight, nine games where you had all these pool plays and you went to the next pool. Then it was quarter semi-finals. And that always felt harder, but you're right when there's less games.

29:56That just means less mistakes. You can't have an off night. Everybody's got probably going even harder because it is less games. But what I can hear when you talk, and I love that I love when like athletes get together and we're all kind of like, oh man, and in 2005, this. And in 2010, that like, it's so vivid. It's so vivid. It's so real, especially with national team play. That's right. Because it's so meaningful. And again, using the NBA, WNBA kind of comparison, like, you don't have to play in these things. No. So what did playing for the national team mean to you? And kind of when you look at the Women's World Cup this year, like, you know, there's going to be people playing for their country. So like, take us into the mindset of people playing in these tournaments. I think there's nothing for me like representing your country. I think putting on your national team jersey, playing for your country, playing for the, for your sport. There's something unique to that. Always, you know, hearing, listen to your national anthem.

30:57You know, while wearing your national team jersey with your teammates that you get together pretty much every summer. You know, it's super unique. And I always felt, you know, there were people that they say, there's Bowspan and there's NBA bow, you know, kind of thing. So there was a difference where Bowspan is like a different, different, different, different, different, different, different, different, different, exactly. And I was trying to bring as much as I could from that to the NBA for the most part. But yeah, it's, there's something unique to me and I felt such a big pride, big honor. Because again, you just said you don't do it for the money, you don't do it for anything else and just the love of the game in your country. And then you go out and you compete, you know, and if you're luck to compete, that's what you, that's what you do. And there's great opportunities to measure up against all the countries and bring, again, bring joy and medals to your country and inspire the youth of your country and others. And that's also what I, you know, that's what I want to grow up and, you know, I always said that the dream team of 92 made a big impact on me.

32:04Obviously being in Barcelona, those, those Olympic games, you know, seeing those players playing at the highest level and even, even later at a different scale. But I used to watch a lot and they, they, they touched me, they inspired me, they motivated me. I, I wanted to be one of those, those guys that went out there and played for their country and inspire others. Well, you obviously had a tremendous international career playing for Spain, but like you said, there is like a big piece of this in terms of inspiring. You were inspired, now you're inspiring. Others, part of that is that you're a global ambassador for the women's game. What made you want to do that? Well, different things. For me growing the game in any way, it's, I love, I love doing growing sport. There's also a, I'm kind of involved with that with the international, international Olympic community as well. You know, it's, I saw I was given the opportunity and, and I said no.

33:08And I was more interested to be honest, just to be an ambassador for the women's woke up, then, then the men's woke up. I was very excited to go to Sydney and be there and, and help the game grow. I think the last few years, obviously we've seen incredible growth from the women's game. And, you know, so I just wanted to, you know, add my, add my part, you know, and, and help grow the game and be part of it and feel proud and see all these women continue to play in such a high level. And, and, and to me, there's two parts, obviously having two daughters. I want my daughters to have the same opportunity to pursue their dreams and to be recognized as my son could do or would do potentially or as, or as I have myself. So there's, there's that aspect to it too. And obviously then, then the impact on the legacy. There was something there with Kobe and John. And what Kobe had been doing and was doing for the women's game and that he couldn't do necessarily anymore personally physically.

34:16And as a brother too, there was, that was an influence for me too. So to continue, you know, what he was doing with the women's game, how I could do that at my level. So, so yeah. And then, then you join as an ambassador. And now, you know, you're the main ambassador. I'm just, I'm just there supporting you and the game and, and all the amazing women. And then, and I had the opportunity to invest in the W and, and then, you know, I want to continue to get more involved. I'm going to, to LA in the next few, next week to, to be to do an event for this barge and, you know, just just continue, just continue to be involved, continue to play my part, continue. And, to help lower the game as much as, as we can. Yeah, yeah. Well, you're obviously like you just said, doing a lot, I think we're all in the side very appreciative. Because it does matter. It does matter to have, you know, people of your stature like being involved. It gives it a validation at times. I think it makes outsiders who don't know any different kind of be like, oh, how says it's cool. So it must be cool.

35:22And you, and you just spoke about just the incredible growth over the course of, I mean, the last couple years for sure, the same is true for international play. The same is true for Spain. You guys got some, the women seem has some young star power. I mean, I'm a little biased, I'll a farm place for Seattle, which is my team. So that's right. I've had the chance to talk to her, watch her up close. I got a Martin is another both 20 years old. So you turn pro at 18. What do you think the pros and cons are? Cause like, Awa, as an example, turn pro similar age, what do you think the pros and cons are for turning pro so early? Well, I think the pro is that, hey, you're, you're exposed to that level. I think you always want to be challenged and you always want to be around players or professionals that are better in you that can push you to work as hard as you can to

36:23and you're best every single day to be able to not just match in but surpass them. So to me, the ability to play with grown man at 18 was, you know, was great. I've embraced it, you know, and I, you know, I had to work hard, I had to bring it, I had to grow also as 18 year old, you know, because I came in with a lot of confidence. I came in like, yeah, I can do this. I can not can beat these guys. I can, you know, and, you know, but there's a learning curve and there's a humility aspect of it. There's a, there's a maturing aspect of it. I think that's probably the downside is when you're 16, 15, you know, you're a teenager and you go into this environment. You know, I don't know if you have all the tools, you know, as a, as a human being, you know, to navigate some of those, some of those factors. I think that's more the challenging part, but I think if you have and I was lucky to have a very strong environment at home with my parents, my brothers,

37:31family, supportive, you know, do whether you're at whether those storms or those challenges easier, you know, with a good core next to you. And that definitely helped me, but it can also, you know, affect you negatively if you, if you, you know, if you don't have those tools potentially or, or there's other factors and challenges that, you know, that you're going to have to face. And it's, it's obviously easier to face them with, with a team, right? It's always easier to face those challenges with, with support, the structure. So, I think that maybe that's, that's maybe the downside also burnout. Maybe you can burn out quicker. Yeah. You know, it becomes a job right away. Yeah, yeah, it becomes a job. And emotionally, you're not fully formed yet, right? So, you're having to navigate those, those, those challenges so early, you know, it's not for everybody. So, but I think ultimately, you know, if you're good enough or you're great at earlier and you have an opportunity to go in, you know, take it, you're obviously you're very ambitious, you're likely, or for sure.

38:43And so, you want to grow, you want the challenge, you want the next level, you want to prove yourself. So, that's, you know, and that's what makes you too. Yeah, that's a good point. I remember when I first teamed up with Lauren Jackson, who also had turned pro in her late teens, probably like same 18. So, we're both 21 at this time. It was such an interesting thing to be around her because she was so grown up in so many ways. I just remember like there was a maturity about her because she'd already been pro for so long. Like I used to joke, I'm like, you're already own like three homes. That's crazy. I'm just out of college. I've got like what? But then in these other ways, you could see there was like a youth to her. Right. You know, so it was like this interesting thing kind of happening. Yeah, it's balance. Yeah, but it does, it does force you to speed up that growing up maturing process where you have to figure it out, not just on the cord, but off the cord. And when you're around that environment, you just also pick up all those things that if you were like only around 18 or 19 year olds.

39:43Right. So it does force you to kind of speed up that growth in that maturity process. Yeah. Well, I think for back to Spain, I do think for Aua, playing in the WMAT this year is probably going to help her heading into this world cup. That's right. Just real quick. Like what do you see for the Spanish team heading into this tournament? Like what do you think their ceiling is? I think, you know, I think they're one of the best teams in the tournament and there will be, I think they were very close and shoot up one the last European championship that they lost crazily against Belgium by one that come back the day had, which congratulations to Belgium. But obviously I was more looking out for my country and my team and the girls and yeah, I was obviously a great talent. She's, you know, and she's been playing, I think, at a very high level already and her first season. You know, and she has a really bright future ahead of her. So I love that you're talking to her. I love that you can be, you know, hopefully, you know, a mentor to her.

40:44And because that'll be very, very important for her career. But, but yeah, I love our team. We have a young team, very versatile. Obviously now we have a few WNBA players and they're playing also pretty, I think pretty well. Maria Conde is also playing really well. Toronto playing really well. And Eliana Martin was drafted, but now I was going to play for Gerona. My brother's team, that was Gerona, which is true. I love Gerona. I love going to Gerona. I think it's like low key one of the best spots to play. I mean, I never played there. Obviously, but I played against them. Yeah. That's a beautiful city. It's a nice city. Yeah, super nice. Great food. Yeah, exactly. Great food. Low key, good, good fan base. Yeah, it's a really, and they've done really well. They've done really well. I think over the course of the last few years, it was been a become one of the top teams in Europe, which is, you know, pretty amazing for that city, you know, and the size of that city.

41:47But, you know, props to the organization. And now Mark, you know, was able to, you know, run it now with the male team. Would you ever want to get into any kind of like roll like that, like with a team, run a team. Yeah, you're interested in that. Yeah, I'm looking into it. You know, NBA Europe is something that I am staying very close to. So I think that might be, you know, the opportunity of the best way for me to, to kind of make potentially play that role or have that impact and involvement with the team. Yeah, so that's likely what I'm working to. One of the things that I'm working on very closely. Yeah, it's exciting. I'm excited for the Spanish team. I think, obviously, with USA team being the favorite, I think they should be, you know, kind of considered, you know, the second with France, Belgium. I think those three teams or four teams will likely get those three medals. But I'm really excited about the present and the future of our team because we have, again, a lot of great, a lot of great players that I'm excited about, that they will, that they already showed a great level of play.

43:04And now is now they can continue to grow and hopefully challenge the US to, to a tough, to a tough match. When you look at just across the board, any country, obviously, there's just a ton of young talent. Like it really is incredible. I think, you know, you can put your finger out of a variety of reasons as to why I would argue that with the growth of like a professional league, the ambition changes. Because now the money is different. So it's a little bit of a different motivator like, let me get in the gym a little bit more. But also, yeah, but also like the game itself is changing. There's just so much young talent. So, you know, we obviously are talking about, oh, you could add Dominique Malonga in there. The USA team has a ton of youth. We have like seven. This will be on this roster. Seven players. It'll be their first world cup. So just what young players are you looking at? And who are you going to have your eye on when you get out to Berlin? Yeah, man. So many, so many, so many players, you know, that I will, that will keep an eye on. But as you said, I think the interesting part of it is, besides the obvious great players that are already playing on a high level.

44:06To me, seeing those younger players from those other countries that are under the radar, that won, you know, to play at the highest level. And I want to take advantage of the opportunity to platform the walk up to show their skills. That's kind of also what I'm also going to be kind of a paying attention to. To me is, okay, who's going to be, you know, who's going to come in and really get after it, you know, who really believes that they have a chance to to not to not just to get to the metal games, obviously, which, you know, you got to get there in order to have that chance. And it actually come in with a certain level of conviction of like, hey, we're going to go, which we saw, I think from from France and the Olympic final in France, you know, and I was, I was a very close, close game. We were both there. We're both there. We're both there, sitting pretty close to each other now, like, but, you know, and that's what you want to see. I think that helps, that does help the game, you know, to, because that's his eight. It's possible. It's not impossible to go out there.

45:16And if you go out there and you challenge and you compete and you wanted more and you fight more, it doesn't just come down to the X's and O's or, you know, it comes out to will and grit and competitiveness and, and believe. Is that what you think separates, like the winners from the losers, I guess? Yeah, I think so. I think. There's something that separates teams when you're in the nitty, like when you're in the weeds of the World Cup. Yeah, I think at any high level competition, but let's put in as this, talking and using the World Cup as an example, you know, there's a certain level of obviously preparation. No, I mean, preparation had to be there. You rely on your preparation without preparing and having put everything into that, you know, that gives you a level of confidence that you wouldn't have. If you didn't prepare, you know, to the best of your ability. And there's a mindset also behind it because there's a physical preparation and there's a mine, the mindset preparation, the mind preparation. And they, and with that comes again, that conviction that I was talking about and that determination.

46:21You know, I remember, you know, Kobe, when he went to one of these Olympics, probably was a Beijing one, the first one, where he came in to be, quote unquote, not on the savior of the USA team. To help his young bucks figure it out and stop losing and so forth. But it was more like, hey, if we lose, if we don't get the goal, I'm, I'm not going back to the US, like I'm, I'm going to Mexico. I'm moving to Mexico, you know, if you say we made some type of funny, funny, but not funny remark, meaning like this is how much, how much I want this, how much I'm determined. And this is a message that I'm saying, Louis, there's nothing, nothing is enough or nothing will be good enough unless we win the gold. And that's that type of determination, you know, that's, you know, that's at his level and that's maybe at the USA level and that's, that's your bar. Right. And it, you know, it should be your bar because if you said, oh, well, you know, my bars should potentially, you know, win a medal, then there's, there's other scenarios that you're putting your putting into your mind.

47:24But if you go out there and say, I'm here to beat every team, I'm here to become a, to be the champion and I'm going out there with that mindset, I'm playing to win. It's that kind of like, are you playing to win or just playing to play and waiting and see. So if you waiting and seeing, you're just given the advantage to the opponent. So playing with that determination, with that grit, with that approach, with that hunger, you know, to go out there and just kick butt kind of thing. You know, you have a better chance. You're, you have an edge. You have an edge. Right. I think you just, I think you just wrote my speech for what I'm going to say to the team before they take the floor. This broke up. Yeah. Now you're, now you're, you're with the USA. Right. Is the team manager or what? Yeah, it's actually, it's managing directors like the title. It's basically GM basically. So it's like me and Grant Hill or kind of. I know. I love it. Thank you. You just, you know, thank you. I appreciate it. I appreciate it. Yeah. Plenty of stuff that you can give them. No, that was, but that's, you nailed it.

48:25That's what makes international play at this level. So that's the separator. That's a separator, like a hunger that you have to have. And if you don't, teams will take advantage of it. So I've actually only been to Berlin one time and it was very short. So I'm not that familiar, but it does have this like rich history, which I wasn't even aware of. I know you've been in and out of Germany throughout the course of your career. So what should we, what can we look forward to with the World Cup being in Berlin? Well, Berlin is a beautiful city. I was, I was there in 2015. I played there a couple of times with 2015 with Spain more days during a European championship. And I was able to go to the gardens. They have beautiful gardens there. Kind of like, I don't know if it could compare it to a central park of New York. But, you know, and they're beautiful. There's obviously a lot of historical sites. There's good food. It's just a nice, nice city. The gym is a great gym to play and basketball jam and fun.

49:34So it's just just a nice, nice city to do. And I think Germany too, by the way, also have a great team and they watch out their hosting. They're up an up trajectory from the man in the women's side. And so, so watch out for them. They can obviously have to play without pressure or playing at home, but they will have the home support and a fan support. So I wouldn't rule them out at all. And they have plenty of talent. Even if Satu, Savali is not not going to be able to play, which, which are, you know, good recovery. And, you know, I'm sorry to, to find out this. She's, you know, she's been struggling this season with, with the injury. But, but yeah, it's, you know, Berlin is going to be, it's going to be lit. I think it's going to be, I think so too. I'm telling you, and I think, you know, we come from Sydney, Sydney, you know, the semi finals in the finals, we have huge attendance. Obviously, you know, different factors there, but it was great, great, great games, great attendance.

50:38I think the trajectory now, the momentum of it, I think it's going to be, it's going to be a really exciting walk up. And I'm, you know, I'm pumped to be able to be there and support and live it, you know. Yeah, same. I think they've already, again, by the time this comes out, the tournament will be going on. But I do know prior, like even six months ago or something, tickets were like almost sold out. Yeah. So it's going to be incredible. I'm really excited. Yeah. Okay. I like to finish my shows with a little rapid fire. Okay. Let's do it. So just throw some, some questions at you. Please, please. What is your favorite national team memory? Yeah. Probably a 2006 final, you know, again, the one, the one that I didn't play. Yeah. You know, it was such a such a unique moment for us, because it was our first gold medal in World Championship history, but for our country. But it was also our first gold medal from there. We won just other gold medals after another medals after and so forth. But, but that was, that was very special one.

51:44Okay. Who is your favorite national team teammate? Juan Carlos Navarro. Why? Yeah. Yeah. We grew up together. I mean, I joined. Like you've been through it. Yeah. Yeah. We're same age. Same age as you and I. You know, we, he was, he was a guy growing up that he was like the number one guy in our youth teams. So I joined FC Barcelona in 96 as a, probably 15, 16 year old and on the youth categories. And he was a guy who played on the first team before I did. So he was like the guy that I was looking up to. And, you know, it's not that I wanted to surpass him, but I was like, hey, you know, and we were best friends. We became best friends. I was able to convince him to come to Memphis one year and play with with me and try the NBA adventure. So yeah. So we're, you know, I'm good one of my best friends. Yeah. That makes sense. I won't tell Mark Donary. Who's your favorite international matchup?

52:45Again, playing against the US was always the highest bar and the toughest challenge. So, so I knew that when I was playing with them, we, we, you know, we had to bring it. We had to play our best to have a chance. And yes, I wanted to meet him as later as possible. Hopefully in the final. And then, and then just go all out. But, you know, we had great matchups with Greece with France, many, many with France or Argentina. Is there a player? Is there like a player through your career that you always just kind of like met with? Yeah. I mean, Tony Parker, Dirtnovitzki. We have pretty parallel careers. We have a generation. Yeah. So we, we face each other a lot. Luckily, my team was great, great team. I think better than their teams. So we most of the time we, we beat them. But yeah, those two guys, Tony and Dirt were always so, you know, amazing to play against.

53:48You know, obviously, internationally in the NBA. And then we got into the Hall of Fame together in the same class in 2023, which was very special too. And, you know, so anyway, just a lot of good memories, a lot of good matchups. Okay. Last but not least, this might be the hardest one. Okay. It was going to be tough. Okay. What's your favorite wine? Favorite wine. That is a tough one. I know. I would say the Vegas Cecilia, the Ounico. It's our, my wife's and I is an anniversary wine. Okay. And obviously, one of the best wines in Spain. So it, you know, it's our favorite. I mean, obviously we love wine and we love, you know, different wines. And I love variety, if you will. So. Yeah. Is Spanish wine your favorite? Or do you like what other regions do you like? Yeah. I like Spanish wines. I like, like, like, burdos, I like burgundies. I like, like, the guy that blew the wine from ball,

54:50the wine from ball, gree in Italy, the Susicayas and the Ornaleas stuff. They're also good wines. Mostly that's where we go with. But I, I am biased. I tend to go for Spanish wines a lot. I think they're under, they're a little under the radar. They're not, they're not as pricey as some of these other countries. Because they historically have gotten more recognition and they, so I'm a big fan of Spanish wines. And we can talk about that and we can, maybe in another time. Yeah. And Berlin. And I can introduce you to some, some good, some good Spanish wines that you would love. What is your favorite wine? What are your favorite ones? What is your taste? I'm not, I'm like, not that great in the, I don't know the names. But I do, I do like burgundies. Those are, that's generally where I don't know, I don't know the names of the pictures. Okay. I know. So you have more lighter body. Yeah. Definitely lighter body. It's funny. I broken my nose so many times that my sense of smell isn't great, but how it feels in my mouth is like,

55:59I'm sure someone's going to clip that. That is like kind of how, how I like do my wine choosing. So yeah, but listen, you had to let, Kat would be mad at you if you didn't go anniversary wine. So yeah, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Anniversary wine. You got to go anniversary wine. Unico is our, it's our wine is our go to. So, but yeah, we enjoy, I enjoy good wine. Whether it's one grade, one part of the kind, I love exploring different, different regions, different grapes, different things. You know, because then whatever you love, whatever is your favorite and stuff, you know, you appreciate it more if, if let's say, if you've tried others that you don't like as much. But if not, you can always get to know something that you didn't know before, which is also cool. Yeah. Yeah. I do enjoy the stories around the wine too. Well, hopefully we'll be getting some wine when I see you in Berlin. Well, definitely well. This is great. Thanks for coming on. For those that are interested, I think tickets are still available. You can check them out. But thank you. I'll see you soon. Thank you looking forward to it.

57:03All right, guys, that's it for this week's show. Hopefully you could hear in the way that Paul talked about the World Cup, what it means to represent your country, the difficulties of playing international basketball. Hopefully you can hear it come through that not only does every player that participates like want it and it means something, it's also so hard. And you really have to be on top of not just your game, but you know, the word that keeps coming to mind for me is like a hunger. You have to have it. And the second you don't and I experienced it in 2006. The second you don't is when teams can creep in. So yeah, like I said, I hope you guys enjoyed. I always love catching out with Paul and that's it. This episode is a co-production of Together and the Vox Media Podcast Network and was produced by Archong, Dominic Roach, Christine Williams, McKenzie Fitzpatrick, Ashley Bogan and Tommy Alper.

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