Pau Gasol’s Bid to Make the Olympics Following a Lengthy Injury to be Focus of New Docuseries

Pau Gasol’s story is getting the Hollywood treatment…

The 40-year-old former NBA star’s bid to make the Olympics after a lengthy injury lay off will be the focus of an upcoming docuseries.

Pau Gasol

The untitled series chronicles Gasol, the two-time NBA champion with the Los Angeles Lakers and six-time NBA All-Star, as he winds down his professional career.

Gasol’s last NBA game was in March 2019. In May of that year, he underwent surgery to repair a stress fracture in his left foot and has been working to get back on the court ever since.

In February, Gasol re-signed with FC Barcelona—where his professional career began more than 20 years ago—as he prepares to chase an elusive Olympic gold medal at the COVID-19 postponed 2020 Tokyo Games this summer.

The series will show how an elite athlete says goodbye to the game they know and love, battling through the physical scars, emotional challenges, personal legacy, as well as deal with new family commitments.

The four-episode documentary is directed by Oriol Bosch and produced by PG Productions, RTG Features and THINK450, the content and partnership engine of the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA). Talking heads include legendary NBA coach Phil Jackson.

The series, which has been in production since 2019, is slated to release in 2021.

Worldwide rights minus Spain (Amazon swooped on those earlier this year) are currently available with U.S.-based RTG Features handling sales.

 

Lopez ThisClose to Signing with the New York Knicks

Robin Lopez is in a New York state of mind…

The 27-year-old half-Cuban American professional basketball player, a free-agent center, will sign with the New York Knicks as long as DeAndre Jordan, as expected, chooses the Los Angeles Clippers or Dallas Mavericks and not the Knicks, according to ESPN sources.

Robin Lopez

Lopez has picked the Knicks over the Los Angeles Lakers in a deal reportedly valued at $12 million a year.

If he ends up in New York, he’ll be the second free agent picked up by Phil Jackson and the Knicks in the 2015 offseason. Earlier Thursday, New York agreed to a two-year, $16 million contract with Arron Afflalo.

Lopez is known as a strong defender and rebounder, two areas in which the 17-win Knicks struggled last season. The 7-foot center averaged 8.7 rebounds per 36 minutes last season, including 4.2 on the offensive end.

New York now awaits Jordan’s decision with the insurance of a Lopez agreement in hand. The terms of Lopez’s agreement are not yet known.

Lopez played the past two seasons with the Portland Trail Blazers. He was selected 15th overall by the Phoenix Suns in 2008, playing his first four seasons there. The New Orleans Pelicans acquired him via sign-and-trade in 2012, with Lopez starting all 82 games that season. The Blazers acquired him in a three-team trade before the 2013-14 season.

He recorded 29 double-doubles and set a franchise record for offensive rebounds in his first season with the Blazers. He missed 23 games last season due to a broken hand suffered in December but still averaged 9.6 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game, anchoring Portland’s interior defense.

A seven-year veteran, Lopez holds career averages of 8.2 points and 5.0 rebounds in 465 games.