Norman Carmichael, former Barcelona player, dies at 74

Norman Carmichael and Charles Thomas, in their playing days (on the left) and when they meet in 2021.

Norman Carmichael, legendary FC Barcelona player in the 70s, has died at the age of 74.

A native of Washington, he had lived in Texas for about a year.

The ACB and the Barça club reported his death this Sunday.

Carmichael, a 2.08 meter center with blond hair, arrived at Barcelona in 1969. He played with the Barça team for almost a decade.

He did not win any title with the Barça club, but he was moved by his resolution near the hoop and, above all, by his charisma and how he integrated into the club and the country.

He would end up being the foreigner with the most seasons on the basketball team.

And he also became the first American reference in the basketball section after being naturalized Spanish.

The documentation was processed in the first Council of Ministers in 1971.

He had trained at the University of Virginia and was chosen in the NBA draft in the fifteenth round, with number 193 by the Atlanta Hawks, although he did not play in the American league.

He started his European basketball career the same year as his bachelor's degree.

"The ACB and all of its clubs want to express their sorrow at the death of such an emblematic player as Carmichael, in addition to sending their deepest condolences to his family and friends," the association's statement said.

Carmichael starred in an endearing story last year when he was the one who could tell in the first person that Charles Thomas, the Barcelona center who had been presumed dead since 1980, when he lost track, was alive.

He lived at a facility in Amarillo, Texas, and called Carmichael from there.

His former partner did not hesitate to pay him a visit.

“The first thing we did is hug each other.

It was a very long hug, because neither he nor I wanted it to end.

It's been very exciting, and we've gotten really excited.

A hug that he had been waiting for 47 years, ”explains Carmichael in Barça Magazine.

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