It’s the same quiet agony, one assumes, that the parents of Venus and Serena Williams experience when the two tennis legends go head-to-head at Wimbledon or in the US Open. Agusti Gasol looks impassive as the camera steals pictures of him watching the NBA playoffs. Yet he must be churning inside because Agusti is in a very privileged and yet also very difficult position: his sons Pau and Marc are the best big men on their respective teams, the Spurs and the Grizzlies. It’s got to be both difficult and a pleasure to watch. (Pau’s Spurs are in command so far.)
Agusti has had some practice watching his sons go at it. The Gasol brothers became the first brothers ever to tip-off against one another in an NBA All-Star Game in 2015. Both brothers are NBA veterans with Pau being a potential Hall of Fame candidate. Agusti is a physical trainer and his wife is a physician — professions they used to patch up their highly competitive sons as they beat each other up on the court as youths. Agusti and his wife Marisa are also both former basketball players. But the 6’6″ Agusti and the 6’2″ Marisa emphasized more than sports as the boys grew up in Spain. The family pursued a well-rounded education. Agusti and Marisa Gasol are proud of the basketball prowess their sons display, but even more so of their off-court accomplishments. “As a father you are proud of having children who know how to behave and what to do,” Agusti told an interviewer.
