That youthful hair, which was pure fire, has gone out. Víctor Claver (Valencia, 35 years old) arrived at his farewell to basketball, after 18 seasons in the elite, with grey hair and a red beard, yes, like the pirate. To his right was Andrea, his wife, and on his legs, Hugo, a red-haired boy whom the Valencia Basket and Spanish national team power forward will try to educate as his father did with him.
His father, who died of cancer, was known as Paco in handball, a sport in which he became a professional as a player for Marcol and as a coach (he led Alzira to win the Cup Winners’ Cup); and as Javier at the Maristas school, where he was the head of studies and a beloved Physics and Chemistry teacher. He guided the early years of that son who was not convinced by handball and who quickly stood out in the baskets of the playground of that school in the Eixample district. That man, well known in the city’s sporting circles, became Victor’s shadow: he served the representatives of the big Spanish clubs in a bar and then paid the bill so as not to owe them anything; he demanded that the boy not drop off in his studies, and forbade him to change cars when he reached a certain status. If it continued to work, there was no reason to stop using it.
Paco, or Javier, Claver died of cancer in 2011, at just 52 years old. He missed almost everything. His arrival in the NBA, with the Portland Trail Blazers, where he didn’t fit in and tiptoed around. His return to Europe with a couple of Russian teams – Khimki and Lokomotiv Kuban – before signing for Barcelona, where he played between 2016 and 2021, the year he decided he’d had enough of wandering around the world, that he wanted to return home, to Fonteta, where he was until this year. He also didn’t get to live out his years with the Spain that played in the Olympic final in London 2012, won three Eurobaskets and was crowned world champion in 2019 with him as a mainstay.
The entire Spanish team, led by Sergio Scariolo, took advantage of the fact that they are playing in the pre-Olympic tournament in Valencia to attend the farewell tribute held at the Alqueria del Basket. He was also accompanied by old friends such as Víctor Luengo, captain of the Pamesa team that won the Cup in 1998 and his protector when he joined the first team, Pau Ribas, and his great teammates from the national team: Ricky Rubio and Sergio Llull. Others sent a video message. “He was a great teammate who always thought about the team,” said Belgian point guard Sam Van Rossom. A phrase almost identical to that used by Rafa Martínez: “A fundamental person to maintain security and balance.” That is why they called him the soldier.
Llull recalled that they first faced each other when Claver was playing for the Comunitat Valenciana youth team and he was playing for the Balearic Islands. “The statistics didn’t always show it, but you were always there. You have been an essential player in the national team’s titles.”
His strongest bond, perhaps, was with Ricky Rubio. The Masnou point guard also lost his mother to cancer. A dramatic bond that led the point guard, through his foundation, to name a ward for cancer patients at the Dexeus University Hospital in Barcelona after Javier Claver.
Claver closed the event, very emotional and overwhelmed by the prominence he never needed on the courts. “Not even on the day of my farewell do I feel comfortable under the spotlight,” he began in front of personalities such as Elisa Aguilar, president of the Spanish Basketball Federation; Pedro Martínez, new coach of Valencia Basket, or its general director, Enric Carbonell. He then made a quick review of the long road travelled and started, at the age of seven, at the Maristas school, where he was forced, and then thanked, to play even as a point guard. His time at Valencia and the national team. Claver thanked Scariolo “for the trust and respect” he showed him. “This soldier is very proud to have been part of the Family.”
He was generous, as he was on the pitch, in his speech, remembering the employee who takes care of everything at the Fonteta, Quique, or the psychologist who helped him improve and, perhaps, to understand why, in Valencia, his homeland, he had so many detractors despite everything he did for the club. “At first I was embarrassed to say that I received psychological help because it seemed to show weakness, but then I understood that it is the other way around.”
The strongest emotions came in his last words, dedicated to his family. To his wife. To his mother (“thank you for being so strong and for always putting us all first so that we never lacked anything”). And to his father: “I hope – he said to his son, Hugo – that you find something that fulfills you as much as it does me. That has been a privilege, but also a responsibility. Your hi He is the main reason why we are here today. He showed me the steps to follow, protected me and guided me little by little to become who I am. I wish you were here. Thank you, Dad.”
You can follow EL PAÍS Sports on Facebook and Xor sign up here to receive our weekly newsletter.
#Soldier #Claver #goodbye #basketball #surrounded #Family
