Gustavo Ayón is motivated by taking Mexico to the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019

SAN JUAN (FIBA Basketball World Cup Americas Qualifiers) — The Titan from Nayarit returned to the Mexican National Team with only one objective: giving his country a participation in the main event of international basketball.

After a three-year absence, center Gustavo Ayón, one of the historic Mexican basketball references, is wearing his country’s colors and intends to repeat their appearance at the FIBA Basketball World Cup China 2019, just as they did in Spain 2014.

“I'm motivated to go back and play again with the National Team now that we have the chance to fight for a ticket to the World Cup. I think that's the main reason why I'm coming back,” said Ayón to FIBA.basketball before a training session during the third qualifying window in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

With Ayón as a main figure, Mexico leaves behind decades of inconsistency in National Team basketball. In 2013, Mexico surprised the whole continent with the gold medal at the FIBA Americas Olympic Qualifiers in Caracas. The following year, the Mexicans achieved the gold at the Centrobasket in Nayarit (where Ayón was born), they participated at the FIBA Basketball World Cup and were left one triumph away from qualifying to the Olympic Games in Rio.

Ayón's name is associated with other greats in the history of Mexican basketball, such as Arturo Guerrero and Manuel Raga, who were protagonists of the Olympic team in Mexico City, in 1968.

 

“I'm proud to have been considered for that list because I think that the work that has been done in the National Teams has been good. There have been many changes that I have personally been a part of, and this generation that we have right now has given a lot to basketball and the Mexican team. We hope to keep doing it,” stated the 33-year old Real Madrid player, who is an Euroleague and ACB champion.

Although this might seem incredible, Ayón began to play organized basketball when he was 18-years old, an age that for the sport, is considered too late. But because basketball has been in his blood for generations in his family, once he started to see the discipline as a job, everything started to be easier.

“My family has always played basketball. I started to play it well, and every day, when I was 18 years old. I always played at home,” Ayón pointed out. “It's too late to start to work on it. But I believe that my qualities have helped me to develop quickly and be at a good level,” added the 6’10” player with three-years experience in the NBA.

The perseveration with which Ayón works was key for his development. He confesed that his first steps in the sport were easy.

“The truth is that it was easy for me. Besides, I really enjoy working, doing extra stuff, giving that something else that many don't give. I like to work, I have loved it, and because of that, it's easier for me.”

Because of his height and impressive game, Ayón won the nickname “the Titan of Nayarit,” thanks to reporter Fernando Hernández, who called the center like that when he played in Xalapa in 2006.

 

“They have recognized me like that. I don’t really care how they call me, the important thing is to do a good job and to be at the best level,” Ayón pointed out, who also explained what was the key for Mexico to recover terrain in basketball.

“The player mentality. We've always had talent: Horacio Llamas, Víctor Mariscal, Víctor Ávila, Omar Quintero... These are all players that are renowned at a National Team level. But that change in mentality was needed. Egos had to be left aside to think about the team. And that had to be implemented in and out of the court.'”

Ayón’s return is not limited to the third FIBA qualifying window. The Nayarit natural considers playing in the September window. His name is also included in Mexico’s list for the Central American and Caribbean Games in Barranquilla.

by Marcos Mejias / Photos: Eloisa Sanchez, Marcos Dominguez, Alvaro Paulin

FIBA