His story, like that of so many athletes in our country, is that of a young man born in humility, who made his way through life with illusions, sacrifice and determination. From Colonia Dora, in Santiago del Estero, to Oklahoma, is the route of Gabriel Deck, the new Argentine name in the NBA elite. At age 26, the Santiago forward is preparing to sign a contract with the Thunders, and become the fourteenth player from our country in the American basketball league.
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Since he was a kid he was a basketball fanatic. “With my brother we had the dream of watching a Quimsa game, but the economic situation at home was not good, so we couldn’t go. That’s why playing at the club is already a dream, “he said a while ago about those modest beginnings. He liked basketball so much that Carlos, his father, armed him a homemade hoop, pure inventiveness. I take the steering wheel of a tractor that he had in the back of the house; He fixed the dividers with a grinder so that the ball could enter cleanly, and then he added a wooden board and a post from an abandoned soccer goal. Thus he began to play with Joaquín, his older brother, and his friends, in the courtyard of his house, dreaming that he was Leo Gutiérrez, his idol; then, in Bartolomé Miter, the village club. Difficult times, when he and his brother helped their parents by cleaning the buses that Don Carlos drove.
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Paola Aguilar, the physical education teacher who was 13 years old, saw him fit to play basketball. To play seriously, to be a professional, to dedicate himself to everything, day and night. It was difficult for him to leave the family in Colonia Dora, 174 kilometers from Santiago del Estero, to start in Quimsa. But he soon attracted attention for his ability and talent. “I have to improve my three-point shot,” he told DeporTv in one of the first interviews he gave as a promise of basketball.
From those times also comes the origin of Tortuga, the nickname by which it is known in the basketball scene. They say that once he was in concentration and covered himself completely; every so often, he would stick his head out, until a colleague christening: “Look it looks like a turtle”. He made his debut for the National League on January 15, 2010, against Quilmes, from Mar del Plata, with just 15 years. The nickname became flesh, and Deck got that animal tattooed on his left leg.
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Besides the turtle, other tattoos furrow his body. On his right arm he has a good luck owl with a watch with which he says “manage the times of my life”. Religion accompanies him with an image of the Virgin of Guadalupe on his right leg. And on the right thigh, a phrase by the American writer John Calvin Maxwell reveals his thought: “When you want to undertake something, there will be many people who will tell you not to do it; when they see that they cannot stop you, they will tell you how to do it; And when they finally see you’ve made it, they’ll say they always believed in you. Do it for your people, do it for your pride, you will never know if you never try ”.
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That quiet kid, with the serenity worthy of a Buddha, seemed to turn into an electric and intense whirlwind when he stepped on the court. Summoned to the Argentine team, he broke it in the U-17 World Cup in Lithuania. Furthermore, he was the first from our country to finish as a scorer in a world competition of any category, with an average of 21.5.
Four years ago, Argentina played the Americup in our country. Deck suffered an ankle injury and missed a couple of games. The team led by Sergio Hernández reached decisive moments and needed to count on the man from Santiago. But the Sheep was worried about Deck and his ankle, which weren’t 100 percent yet. And he asked: “Gaby, do you want to play the same?” “Yes,” was the calm reply. Hernández insisted: “But tell me, have you ever played with pain? Do you know how important this game is?” “Yes,” Deck confirmed, with an inner peace that was proof of anxiety. He played that semifinal against Mexico, which Argentina won, and he was also one of the figures of that team that had Campazzo as a point guard.
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He fulfilled his dream not only of watching a Quimsa match, but also of playing and being a champion of the National League and of a South American League of Clubs with the team of his province. He went to San Lorenzo de Almagro, he was also a figure there and added two Leagues (2016/17 and 2017/18) and a League of the Americas (2018), until Real Madrid noticed him and landed on the Old Continent. He left San Lorenzo with excellent numbers: 19.1 points, 5 rebounds and a PIR of 19.9, MVP in the League and in the Liga de las Americas.
Already when he was in the Cyclone he appeared on the NBA radar. Utah and Milwaukee noticed him. During the 2019 China Seniors World Cup he was one of the most prominent of the selected team. Argentina played the semifinal in Dongguan against France, which they would win 80-66, before falling in the final against Spain. In the front row, in one of the boxes, two basketball giants: Manu Ginobili and Kobe Bryant, who was the godfather of the contest; the Argentine, recently retired, had traveled especially to accompany the team.
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Later, Ginobili said: “Kobe did not know the names, but he asked me everything, about the decisions of the coaches and the characteristics of some Argentine players. He was a basketball sick, a total fanatic, a student of the game. The first thing he asked me was: ‘Who is 14?’ He fell in love with Tortuga (Deck). And I told him later: that Kobe had become his fan and that he wanted to take him to the Lakers”. Unfortunately, a few months later, in January of last year, there was the air tragedy in which Bryant died.
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In 2018 Deck moved to Madrid. With Real he won the 2018/19 League, the 2018, 2019 and 2020 Spanish Super Cups, and the 2020 King’s Cup. “Gaby is a very complete player. We knew he was a young boy coming from a different basketball, but he is more and more adapted and it is very important to us ”, the ‘merengue’ coach, Pablo Laso, had covered him with praise a few weeks ago.
The farewell was yesterday, with a great performance and victory over Fenerbahce in Istanbul to go to the quarterfinals of the Euroleague. He played almost 39 minutes, and when he was replaced in the last minutes he received the applause of the entire bench of substitutes, who were already aware that it was his last meeting with the Spanish club, and they paid him sincere recognition. He was one of the lowest paid players on the roster, and in late 2020, Real Madrid made him a proposal to renew, but it was too late, with at least a couple of NBA franchises interested in Deck. Finally, Oklahoma insisted and will be the next destination of the Tortuga.
He never lost sight of his origins. More: in Colonia Dora he founded the Comedor 7 de Abril, to assist the children of his hometown with food. “The idea is to help the boys. With my brother and a friend, who is a social worker, we gave him that name because that is the name of the neighborhood he is in, and it is the one from my childhood. It is for children from 1 to 12 years old, we are going to work with people who will evaluate each child to know what he needs to eat and how many times a day. We did it, without political aid, I don’t want things to get mixed up, “he said about this initiative.
He misses those days of fishing in the Salado River, very close to his home. He loves music of all kinds, especially cumbia and guaracha from Santiago, and is in charge of musicalizing the concentrations of the national team. “Since I wake up I listen to music, in fact, I have a tattoo with a musical key. And well … there was no one to put music on the mic, so I went to buy a speaker to start putting a little rhythm. I love doing it and my colleagues like it too. They left me in charge, before it was Facu (Campazzo) who put music ”, he told LA NACION during the last World Cup.
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Deck can move in reach the most powerful league in the world of basketball, but it is clear that some things will never change. “Growing up in such a small town and coming from a humble family, you don’t forget anything. From the first moment they taught me to be respectful, supportive, partner, to be humble, to always take the other into account. And my old man and my old woman explained to me that nothing is more valuable than words, that you have to trust that. In fact, I always say to my friends, “You can do anything to me, but words are worth more than everything.” Later, on a personal level, I think of my home, of the smell of my mother’s kitchen, the aroma of the coffee that my grandmother serves me, of having fun with my friends… I try to always be in contact with them. With his affection I charge the batteries to move forward, that is the most important thing in my life ”.
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