Barcelona President Josep Maria Bartomeu (left) and Gasol signed a two-year deal in March.Barcelona/Jonathan Scott
When Barcelona made Milwaukee Bucks F Pau Gasol an ambassador, strategic adviser and partner in March, it was the culmination of talks that lasted more than one year.
The deal also marked the latest step in a long-running relationship between Gasol and the club in general, and Barcelona Managing Dir of the Americas Xavier O'Callaghan in particular. Gasol said that he helped introduce the club to AEG and its former CEO, Tim Leiweke, when Barcelona was in talks about its Espai Barça project. The two-time NBA champ called his role as a Barcelona ambassador part of his broader ambition of becoming a "bridge between Spain and the U.S."
Read More
Gasol's friendship with O'Callaghan dates back to the late '90s, when Gasol was starring for Barcelona's basketball team and O'Callaghan was a key member of the Catalan club's handball team. Two decades after the players met while sharing the same training facilities, O'Callaghan is now leading Barcelona's North American push, while Gasol is nearing the end of his NBA career and beginning to think about his post-retirement plans.
"It's amazing," O'Callaghan said. "You couldn't expect that 19 years later, we could meet in the U.S.A., with him as a big star in the NBA and me dealing with this office."
Both O'Callaghan and Gasol said that the details of his work as a U.S. ambassador for the club are still being ironed out. O'Callaghan said that the relationships Gasol has established during his time with the Grizzlies, Lakers, Bulls, Spurs and Bucks will play an important role in his work for Barcelona.
"He has a lot of contacts and knows a lot of people that could be interesting for us," O'Callaghan said. "The Barça Innovation Hub is one thing that we are really interested in here in the U.S.A. It’s a field where he and his contacts could help us very much to find the right partners or the right investors."
Gasol said that one component of the partnership will be frequent collaborations between his personal foundation and Barcelona's. As for his post-basketball life, the Spaniard expects his work with his childhood club to be one piece of the puzzle.
"I wouldn't imagine it being the main occupation, because I have other potential goals that I want to pursue," Gasol said.
