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Ask Daily Stoic: Ryan and NBA Legend Pau Gasol Talk Books, Basketball, and Stoicism
In today’s episode, Ryan talks with NBA All-Star, Laker legend and humanitarian Pau Gasol. They discuss everything from Pau's reading habit to his advocacy for female coaches in basketball and more.
1:51 - Intro
6:22 - Being a big reader—and how that was encouraged by Phil Jackson
8:22 - What Pau gets out of fiction
10:32 - Phil Jackson recommendations
11:52 - Stoicism and reading
16:02 - The Meditations and marginalia
18:28 - Why do athletes always like quotes/aphorisms?
21:52 - The importance of reminders
24:42 - The importance of female coaches in basketball, and why discrimination is so harmful, and how hardship makes us stronger
37:25 - COVID-19 economic consequences: how did Pau process his experience with the Trailblazers, and how is that informing his decisions now?
Books mentioned:
- The Shadow of the Wind, by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
- The Shadow of the Sun, by Ryszard Kapuscinski
- Corelli’s Mandolin, by Louis de Bernieres
- The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, by Stieg Larsson
- For Whom the Bell Tolls, by Ernest Hemingway
- Catch-22, by Joseph Heller
- 2666, by Roberto Bolaño
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