Nick Nurse once joked that the new-look Marc Gasol was “chiselled,” and Norm Powell suggested the veteran Raptors centre looked more like a Barcelona soccer player than a basketball professional.
The difference in Gasol, as least judging by photographs dotting various social media sites, is truly stark and the descriptions and observations are apt.
Gasol is noticeably thinner, absolutely more muscular and apparently fitter than he’s been since he arrived in Toronto from Memphis about 18 months ago.
But he’s also 35 years old and spent most of the interrupted NBA season fighting a nagging hamstring injury.