Gabriel Girón, who went from being cut off at the airport to leading Mexico to the Basketball World Cup

Photo: Luis Licona/Getty Images

Minutes before the Mexican basketball team left for Spain to play the 2014 World Cup, the team’s coach, the Spanish Sergio Valdeolmillos, notified Gabriel Girón that he was off the payroll, a “depressing” moment forFor the forward who nine years later is the captain and the leader who propelled Mexico to the 2023 World Cup.

“They are life stories. I had that experience, which I am not saying was bad, but rather a learning experience. What is that that moment was a little depressing because they cut me off at the airport after winning the gold medal at Centrobasket”, he explained.

At the time, Girón was 26 years old and was one of the young people in a group led by the center, now retired, Gustavo Ayón, one of the legends of Mexican basketball.who commanded the 12 warriors, as the country remembers that team that broke a 40-year fast without the nation attending a World Cup.

“When situations happen that are not in one’s hands, you think about what else I can do to improve. My family helped me strengthen myself mentally, but I always I have said that you should prepare for when the time comes, not when the time comes you start preparing. It’s a philosophy that my brothers and I have instilled in ourselves.” added the native of Monterrey, Mexico.

Girón’s achievements with Mexico include gold and silver medals at Centrobasket, bronze at the 2017 AmeriCupand be the team’s top scorer in the Americas qualifiers for the World Cup this year, which marked the country’s return to the World Cup after the absence of 2019.

“There are many who say, ‘hey, Gabriel Girón is different when he puts on the jersey in Mexico than when he puts on one from a club.’ And it does happen to me because you are representing your country more than 120 million people. Everything changes a little.”

Girón aims to be the captain of Mexico in the World Cup in August, but before that he will lead a young group, with an average age of 24, that this July 1 will debut at the Central American and Caribbean Games San Salvador 2023.

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