Garbajosa, Calderón, the Gasols… the 'Golden Juniors' also triumph in the offices

«The best generation of Spanish basketball not only conquered the world on the courts. To their astonishing successes between baskets – from the 2006 World Cup to the Olympic medals and continental golds, the gold juniors and company have added striking resumes after their careers. Most of them succeeded with the ball and in the offices afterwards and the biggest and most recent example is the election of Jorge Garbajosa as president of FIBA Europe last Saturday in Munich.. It was not for nothing that Dr. Naismith created basketball in the classrooms of an institute in Springfield (Massachusets).

JORGE GARBAJOSA

New president of FIBA Europe, no Spaniard has ever held such a high position on the management ladder of world basketball. The great leap of the man from Madrid culminates a meteoric rise between offices since he hung up his boots after his final stint at Unicaja. He was soon linked to the Spanish Federation by the hand of the previous president, José Luis Sáez, whom he would end up replacing after the elections he won in 2016 and in which he was re-elected in 2020. After years later, he conquered the command in Europe of the International Federation, replacing the Turkish Demirel, a position of enormous projection. Elisa Aguilar, who has been his right hand in recent years, is running as his replacement: she will be the first woman to preside over the organization.

Pau Gasol

The best Spanish player of all time was already building his post-basketball career even before retiring. With a wide range of interests – he is an adviser, investor and activist in various projects and companies related to sports and well-being – the former Lakers was chosen during the Tokyo Games in which he said goodbye to the selection as a member of the IOC on behalf of athletes. In addition, he has been a UNICEF ambassador since 2003 and vice president of Básquet Girona.

marc gasol

The ambition beyond the basket of his brother Marc is also amazing. Because the Gasol median has not retired yet. He is still active in Básquet Girona, which he has managed to keep in the Endesa League after being promoted last year from the LEB Oro. He fulfills the dream of playing his last years after leaving the NBA in the team he loves the most, an author's project that he also presides over, a unique case in world basketball.

JOSE MANUEL CALDERON

Also with different business projects, some linked to his land, the man from Extremadura is currently an adviser to the Cleveland Cavaliers, one of his teams in the NBA. Before, the point guard held a position in the NBA players union (Nbpa, National Basketball Players Association) where he worked in the New York offices together with the CEO, Michele Roberts.

felipe reyes

Only two years ago the pivot closed his stage as a legend of Real Madrid and the Spanish team and immediately began his work at the white club, of which he is ambassador. His brother Alfonso has held the presidency of the ABP, the Spanish players' union, for several years.

JUAN CARLOS NAVARRO

Even more relevant is the position of one of his great allies in the Spanish team and rival with Barça. After his retirement, Juan Carlos Navarro became the head of basketball for the Barça club. Without going too far, in Kaunas, during the Final Four, he had to explain the team's failure. Now he will have to deal with all the open fronts, especially the continuity of Sarunas Jasikevicius on the bench and Nikola Mirotic on the field, both in question.

ALEX MUMBRÚ

The Catalan forward soon leaned towards the benches, a rarity in the group. From this golden age of the national team, only Fernando San Emeterio -precisely his assistant at Valencia Basket- seems to follow the same path. He took over the reins of Bilbao after retiring from the black team and last summer he made the leap to the orange team, with which he made his Euroleague debut.

CARLOS JIMENEZ

The man from Madrid, who was sports director of Unicaja (his last team) for years, returned to management in 2022 after a period of rest (his wife, Noelia Losada, is Councilor for Culture and Sports of the Malaga City Council and candidate for mayor of the city by Citizens). Since then he has held the position of Team Manager of the Spanish national team, a kind of liaison between the presidency of Jorge Garbajosa and the players and technical staff headed by Sergio Scariolo.