MADRID (Rio 2016 Olympic Games) - Spain's basketball players are accustomed to providing inspiration for their legions of fans on the Iberian Peninsula.

On Saturday at practice, however, before the team's trip to Kaunas to take on Lithuania in a friendly, the players were the ones to draw some inspiration. They received a visit from the world famous tenor, Placido Domingo.

The Spaniard, whose voice has been heard in the most famous opera houses of the world, is friends with Pau Gasol and Jose Calderon. He took up an invitation to meet the rest of the national team just a few weeks before the start of the Rio de Janeiro Games.

"For me it is a privilege and I am really pleased to be at this training session not long before the team's trip to Brazil to start the Olympics," Domingo said in remarks to the Spanish Basketball Federation website.

"I admire these players and that's why today I am excited to be with them ... "

Domingo, 75, was born in Madrid. He is hoping that Spain can do something they nearly accomplished at the last two Olympics before falling to the United States in the Gold Medal Games.

"After the finals of Beijing and London, in which it was so close," he said, "I hope that this time we can be champions."

The great Domingo also spoke about Pau, a two-time NBA champion and an All-Star Center.

He had been to watch Gasol, the MVP of the 2006 FIBA Basketball World Cup, EuroBaskets 2009 and 2015, play when he was a member of the title-winning Los Angeles Lakers teams.

"I have a great relationship with Pau," Domingo said, "whom I have been fortunate to see on many occasions."

Domingo left with the well wishes of all the players, and a basketball that each had signed.

FIBA