Longtime NBA big man Pau Gasol had been unemployed for virtually the entirety of the 2019-20 NBA season in part due to injury, but he had planned on competing again on the international level.

Gasol said he wanted to play for the Spanish national team at the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan, prior to their postponement due to the coronavirus pandemic (via FIBA):

“I was hoping before everything changed and got postponed, or cancelled, that I was going to have enough time to heal my injury, to get in an appropriate shape to be able to compete and play and still, at 40 years old, play my fifth Olympics this summer in Tokyo,” Gasol said in an interview with the Olympic Channel.

The International Olympic Committee elected to postpone the Olympics until the summer of 2021, so there is still a chance Gasol could play (rather than having to wait four years). Indeed, he said he hopes to become a five-time Olympian, though he noted it will be a “challenge” at his age.

Gasol is arguably the best international player in Spain's history. He notched multiple silver medals with the national team and nearly won gold in 2008 before Kobe Bryant almost single-handedly sent Team USA to the top of the podium.

In terms of Gasol's NBA career, that remains to be seen. He was limited to just 30 games during the 2018-19 season, one in which he was cut by the San Antonio Spurs and picked up by the Milwaukee Bucks, only to sustain another injury that shelved him for the rest of the year. If Gasol's playing days are indeed nearing their end, he has had a Hall of Fame career.

But Pau Gasol hopes he has one more Olympic run left.