Two decades of success, led by a generation unique in talent and competitive display, have preceded the crowning of the Spanish team in the European Basketball Championship, an unexpected feat but indicative of the nature of sport.
With their victory over France in the final in Berlin, the team has entered the general catalog of unforeseen or unimaginable feats.
Situations like this, where the journey of a team without expectations becomes a happy odyssey, invite us to think of a moral parable, presided over by a collection of virtues that help explain the magnitude of a surprising success, generally associated with character: conviction , pride, discipline and competitive vigour.
All these attributes have been indisputable in the Spanish team and suspect in some of the favorite teams, including the French, made up of the most recognized players on the international scene.
Nor has the necessary spirit of rebellion been lacking from some players who felt underestimated.
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The eternal dynasty of Spain: two decades reigning in basketball
There is no doubting the importance of the team's courage and unwavering commitment throughout the championship, but they by no means explain the reasons for their success.
In each game, Spain has been better than its opponent.
When he found himself in dire straits, he found answers that exceeded the team's passion and resistance to defeat.
One issue has been essential: talent.
In its most basic version, talent consists of making the most of qualities and clearing away defects as much as possible.
That is, intelligence.
Spain has been an intelligent team, capable of finding correct solutions to problems that required something more than good spirits and fighting spirit.
When France cut Spain's lead with a flurry of baskets—and moved within three points—the team didn't panic.
He reversed the wave with an exemplary defense, the insistence on causing losses -and taking advantage of them with a very high percentage of success in the shots- in a rival that had weakened throughout the championship in that section and the ease to detect the safest hands in the triples.
This time they were those of Juancho Hernangómez, who enjoyed a new movie night.
He repeated in Berlin his recent role in Hustle —Claw, in Spain—.
Together with Adam Sandler, Juancho stars in a basketball version of the Cinderella story, perfectly extended in Berlin to his 27 points, 21 of them signed with triples, and to the general story of the team.
Scariolo deserves enormous credit as a manager, not only during the tournament, but also in the weeks leading up to it, presided over by general skepticism and abundant criticism of the fast-track nationalization of the American Lorenzo Brown, rejected among other sectors by the Spanish Players Association.
In a magical year for national basketball – its men's and women's teams have played nine finals in World and European championships, four of them closed with victory – Brown's nationalization was understood as a whim on demand.
It is true that Spain had said goodbye to an incomparable generation, but the production of players is constant and, from what it seems, more than promising.
Pulling a player that Scariolo knew very well, but without the slightest link with Spain, deserved a controversy that surpasses sport.
Scariolo ignored any other consideration and thought about the specific needs of the team, summed up in the great contribution of the American base in Berlin.
Now the discussed Lorenzo Brown is Lorenzo of Spain.
That's how graphic is the line that connects patriotic sentimentality and success in sports.
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