Gustavo Ayon to retire from basketball / News - Basketnews.com

Gustavo Ayon, the former Real Madrid center will end its basketball career this Sunday in Mexico.

Credit: AFP - Scanpix Credit AFP - Scanpix

Mexican center Gustavo Ayon, who won titles with Real Madrid, will say goodbye to basketball this Sunday in a game in which a team of his friends will face the Mexican national team.

"It didn't take me long to make this decision. Throughout my career, I have learned to pay attention to my body, when I could do things well and when I couldn't," said Ayon to Marca.

"It takes more than 24 hours for me to recover after a game. I am retiring fully and at a good basketball level", explained the 37-year-old center.

Ayon, who is described by Real Madrid as a legend and one of the great centers in its history, will end a career that lasted more than 15 years with a match in Guadalajara, capital of the state of Jalisco, in western Mexico.

The roster of his team of friends has not been revealed. The Mexican team will be the same one that will face the fourth window of the Americas qualifiers against the Philippines, Japan, and Indonesia.

Among those summoned by Mexico's head coach Omar Quintero, are Francisco 'Pako' Cruz, who plays for Tofas Bursa in Turkey, and Jorge Gutierrez, a former NBA player who now belongs to the Mexican Astros.

in 2014, Ayon helped Mexico to qualify for their first World Cup in 40 years. Ayon also helped Mexico to win the FIBA ​​Americas Championship title in 2013 and gold at Centrobasket in 2014, in both tournaments becoming the MVP.

Ayon played 340 official games between 2014 and 2019 with Real Madrid. The 2.08-meters tall center won two EuroLeague titles with the Spanish club, as well as one Intercontinental Cup, four ACB leagues, three Spanish Cups, and two Super Cups.

Ayon spent his last two seasons in Puerto Rico with the Capitanes de Arecibo, with which he won the Island League in 2021 and fell in the semifinals on August 1 this year, in his last game as a professional.

Ayon was the third Mexican player ever in the NBA after Horacio Llamas and Eduardo Najera. In the NBA the Mexican center played in 135 games and averaged 4.7 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 1.3 assists per contest.

In the NBA Ayon has played for the New Orleans Hornets, the Orlando Magic, the Milwaukee Bucks, and the Atlanta Hawks, his last team in the 2013-2014 season.

"I am leaving in peace and I feel calm because I have given basketball everything I could: passion, work and responsibility," said the Mexican basketball legend.

"Sunday will be a party in which I will be grateful to basketball," Ayon concluded.

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