MADRID, 19 Jun. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The former Spanish international basketball player José Manuel Calderón, ambassador of the Wilson brand, stated this Wednesday that “basketball is good in more countries than before”, highlighting how the sport is evolving and also growing in Spain, on a day in which Sergio Rodríguez announced his retirement, a player with “a different style, which cannot be copied.”
‘Calde’ participated in the presentation of the agreement between acb and the American manufacturer of sports equipment, clothing, footwear and accessories Wilson Sporting Goods Co. After the event, the man from Extremadura referred to the media about the news of the day with the withdrawal of the ‘ Chacho’. “Thank you for everything. I have enjoyed it as a teammate, as a rival, as a fan,” he said.
“A different style, which cannot be copied, a vision of basketball that only belongs to ‘Chacho’, is ‘Chachismo’. It has been a joy to be able to share those moments with him. Every year one of us leaves, I was one of the first, but it is a matter of time. It is incredible what he has achieved,” he added after the event in which the Wilson Evo NXT, the new ball for the Endesa Basketball League for the 2024-25 season, was unveiled.
“My beginnings with Wilson was just when the NBA wants to change the ball and I am in the Players Association, I was in the project, and now, to help this push with the ACB and the FEB, to collaborate with Wilson so that the basketball in Spain,” he said.
On the other hand, Calderón was also asked by Rudy Fernández who this summer hopes to put an end to his career with his sixth Olympic Games. “They are two players who have done a lot, because of how they have led their teams, Rudy, captain of the national team, how he came to our generation when he was younger, how he adapted, how he learned to later lead. How he went to the NBA and came back to Real Madrid and he has done everything he has done, he is an example of professionalism. We would be delighted if our children noticed that,” he said.
The former point guard of the national team assessed Spain’s options to be in Paris 2024 via the Pre-Olympic. “I am always very optimistic, but it is clear that these Pre-Olympic Games are becoming more and more complicated. You play it in one game, and in one game many things can happen, it doesn’t matter if you play against the favorite or not. We have a good team, a good coach, we know how to compete, but now we have to do it, we are at home,” he noted.
Furthermore, Calderón explained that Spain will continue winning medals, although it is normal that it has been difficult to “maintain the level.” “It is very difficult to compete for so long, being able to maintain the level is the challenge and the difficulty. We are going to win European and World Cups, it is a matter of logic because of how basketball is worked in Spain,” he stated, seeing it as equally normal that players Europeans succeed in the NBA.
“It’s generational, in the coming years they can go back to being American (individual awards). This evolves and takes many turns. You adapt, basketball is increasingly closer everywhere, it is more multicultural. Basketball is good in many more countries than before,” he concluded.