Former NBA and Spain great Pau Gasol will serve as a global ambassador for this year's FIBA Basketball World Cup, the Japan Basketball Association announced Monday.
Japan, the Philippines and Indonesia are set to co-host the 32-team World Cup tipping off on Aug. 25.
Gasol was named Most Valuable Player when Japan hosted the 2006 tournament, then known as the FIBA World Championship, after spearheading Spain's run to the title. He retired from competition after representing Spain at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
The 42-year-old joins another former NBA and international standout, Argentina's Luis Scola, as a World Cup ambassador.
"The World Cup is the toughest trophy in basketball to win," Gasol said in a statement from the sport's international governing body. "This is a great honor for me to be a part of such a great team of basketball legends."
