Memphis Grizzlies center Marc Gasol is looking leaner than ever, and has stealthily positioned himself as an early-season MVP candidate (20.1 points, 8.1 rebounds.)
Teammate Mike Conley first noticed the weight loss while watching the FIBA Basketball World Cup this past summer, and certainly knows just how critical Gasol has been to the Grizz’s NBA-leading 15-2 record.
Gasol, 29, will be one of the most sought-after free agents next summer, and the front-office in Memphis says they’ll do everything possible to retain the big fella
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Per the NY Times:
“I was like, Man, that can’t be Marc,” said Conley, the Grizzlies’ point guard. “It looks like he lost 50 pounds.” […] As it turned out, Gasol, the Grizzlies’ center, had spent much of the summer in Spain cutting refined sugar, soda and processed foods from his diet; cutting back on carbohydrates and red meat; and adopting a mostly flexitarian, or semi-vegetarian, diet.
Gasol will consider many factors in deciding whether to stay, but the most important, he said, will be whether his team is committed to winning. […] “That’s going to be huge for me,” he said. “Because you’ve got to go to work every day and feel good about it, knowing that everyone is seeing the big picture, which is having the biggest chance to win a championship.”
“Speculation really is not a concern of mine,” said Chris Wallace, the Grizzlies’ general manager. “The whole free-agency period is a long way off, but what we’ve obviously made known to him is, the first priority of the organization is to keep him. He’s extremely important to us, and we’re going to get him re-signed one way or another, regardless of when that occurs.”
