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MADRID — They are known as the Golden Generation: half-a-dozen players born in 1980 and 1981 who have put Spain on the short list of the world's top basketball powers.
Tonight, Spain gets to welcome some of the Golden Generation home. A sold-out crowd of 14,500 will pack the Palacio de Deportes when the Grizzlies play Spanish club side Estudiantes and the Toronto Raptors face Spanish-league champion Real Madrid.
"Back in the day when we were 16, 17, 18 we won the gold medal in nearly every championship we played," said Pau Gasol, the Memphis Grizzlies forward who some consider the best player in Spanish history.
"We beat the [United] States on different occasions; we were European [junior] champions and world [junior] champions at one time."
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- Memphis Grizzlies
- Toronto Raptors
- Utah Jazz
- Chris Bosh
- Jose Calderon
- Matt Carroll
- Nick Collison
- Keyon Dooling
- Jorge Garbajosa
- Pau Gasol
The Grizzlies feature Gasol and his newly signed teammate Juan Carlo Navarro — nicknamed La Bamba for his prolific outside shooting ability — while the Raptors provide Jose Calderon and Jorge Garbajosa. Raul Lopez, formerly of the Utah Jazz, plays for Real Madrid.
Of the two Raptors stars, it's Calderon who is part the Golden Boys. Garbajosa, born in 1977, was joined by them later, but he fit in nicely with the group that had been playing together since they were teenagers.
"It's like a big family and we're proud to play for that team," Calderon said. "We just play to win. We don't play for points, we play like a team."
The results have justified the approach. The first hint that Spain was on its way to building something lasting, after nearly two decades of inconsistent results in international basketball, came at the 1998 European Junior Championships, which Spain won.
"It's easy to see it now, but up to that stage Spain had gone so long without consistently producing high-quality players," Raptors assistant general manager Maurizio Gherardini said. "So at that time you had the first feeling that something special was starting."
The following year the team made its entrance on the big stage when Spain won the 1999 world junior crown, downing the United States in the final, beating a team that featured current NBA players Nick Collison, Matt Carroll and Keyon Dooling, among others.
"No, we didn't expect it. We just played and enjoyed it, we went to the final and won and after that, yeah, we were world champions, but after that we go back to our second or third division teams in Spain," Calderon said. "We just played because we enjoyed it and we were really good friends. We didn't think too much about what we're going to do."
Their run peaked in 2006 at the world championship when Spain took home gold, setting off raucous celebrations at home after beating Greece in the final. It also gave Calderon and Garbajosa bragging rights over Chris Bosh, who made his debut on the U.S. national team and came home with a bronze medal.
"They might mention it a couple of times," Bosh said. "But what can I say?"
The Spanish players on both NBA teams have been swarmed by media in Madrid. Gasol is featured in an advertisement three storeys tall around the corner from the arena. Everyone wants to touch the players.
"They're like rock stars," Raptors president Bryan Colangelo said. "When we landed there had to be 30 attendants for our airplane wearing these fluorescent vests and as soon as we came off the plane they were just standing there. The second we hit the ground they hit them like a swarm of bees: pictures, autographs, you name it. These guys are larger than life here, and deservedly so."
There was a moment of disappointment when Spain lost to Russia in the final of the European championship last month, but the opportunity for redemption comes next August when the Golden Generation will be among the favourites for an Olympic title in Beijing.
"It's something that's difficult to do and something that we obviously want to do, and we're going to do the best we can," Navarro said. "If we do it we'll be very, very, happy. Everyone would be really excited about it. It's never been done before, it would be the best thing in the world if it happened for Spain."
