The Olympic Games in Rio de Janerio are set to commence with the opening ceremony on Friday night. Basketball begins on Saturday morning and the Los Angeles Lakers are represented in the form of newly acquired point guard, Jose Calderon, and former Laker Pau Gasol, who are both representing their home country of Spain.
Pau and Calderon have been bonding with the Spanish National Team throughout the training camp period. The two have been seen together on Gasol’s Instagram page and on their teammate Felipe Reyes’ Twitter account:
#teamESP 🇪🇸 #SomosEquipo #Rio2016 pic.twitter.com/2EtfCeqKCb
— Felipe Reyes (@9FelipeReyes) August 1, 2016
Pau and Calderon led Spain to a silver medal in the Olympic Games in London back in 2012, as the lost an uncomfortably close gold medal game to Kobe Bryant and the United States. Pau has always dreamed of bringing home a gold medal to Spain, but his chances look grave once again this year with another stacked Team USA squad being the favorites to win once again.
The Lakers should expect Calderon to arrive to training camp in great shape after he spent the majority of the summer preparing for the Olympics. Calderon will focus on taking a medal back to Spain and then he can settle into his new role as a mentor for the young Lakers core.
