The winners of the Indianapolis 500 have to follow a very quirky tradition. Normally, winners celebrate their victory by spraying and drinking champagne, but as a tradition, the Indy 500 winners celebrate by drinking a bottle of cold milk. The drivers are asked before the game what kind of milk they will prefer – whole, 2%, or skim – so the winner gets the drink of their choice. This tradition was started in 1936 and has been followed ever since. And this year, when Alex Palou finally won the Indy 500, he got his long-awaited opportunity to become a part of this tradition. But amid all of these, Pau Gasol has a cryptic message for Alex!

But what makes Alex Palou’s win spectacular? He became the first Spanish racer to win this prestigious race. This marked his fifth victory in the opening six races of the IndyCar Series season. But the three-time IndyCar champion is unsure whether his victory will be celebrated as much in Spain as it is in the US. “I don’t know what it’s going to be for Spain. Hopefully, they are celebrating as much as I am,” he said. That being said, his fellow countryman and basketball legend, Pau Gasol, did not forget to cheer for Palou on his extraordinary achievement.

Gasol shared a post on Twitter (now X) with a congratulatory message for Palou, with a photo of him lifting the milk bottle high. Gasol wrote, “@AlexPalou continues to make history and has become the first Spaniard to win the Indianapolis 500. Congratulations, Alex!” Even Palou’s fellow racer and F1 driver, Carlos Sainz Jr, posted a story on Instagram to congratulate Palou. “Huge @alexpalou!! Great race!! Congratulations!” wrote Sainz Jr.

Receiving such high praise from national heroes like Pau Gasol and Carlos Sainz Jr, Palou may finally get some worthy recognition for his exploits. He also noticed that there were more Spanish flags in the crowd than ever before. Hopefully, this victory of the Spanish star will bring more people to the IndyCar series.

This growing enthusiasm for international talent isn’t limited to motorsports. With the increasing number of foreign sportsmen having a huge impact in the American leagues, especially in the NBA, Pau Gasol was asked a very interesting question regarding this recent phenomenon.

Pau Gasol firmly believes that a non-American too, can be the face of the NBA

As Lebron James and Stephen Curry enter the twilight years of their respective careers, the fans, media, and analysts are wondering who will become the new face of the NBA. Many media houses are driving this frenzy by talking about the need to have an American star to be the face of the league. Pau Gasol does not agree with this viewpoint. He believes, with the NBA’s increasing global appeal, the league does not strictly need an American face.”The NBA has become so global that I don’t believe the face of the league necessarily needs to be an American,” said Gasol.

The Lakers legend also pointed towards the emergence of international stars like Luka Doncic and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who have the potential to be the next big stars of the league. Gasol also believes that there can be more than one face of the league, pointing back to the previous eras when multiple players carried high branding value. “It’s not that there has to be just one face. There have been different eras where two or three players carried a lot of that branding for the game.”

So the question remains, who is the next face of the NBA? Well, the most likely answer for that is – Luka Doncic. For starters, Luka has the most number of jersey sales for the 2024-25 NBA season, more than Lebron, Curry, and Durant. So, he is already the league’s most marketable player. Coming to his talent, it is unquestionable. The experts have described him as the perfect mixture of flair, skill, and toughness.

And we haven’t even mentioned his move to the Lakers that broke the internet, literally. All these attributes make Luka Doncic the most ideal candidate to take up the mantle from the likes of LeBron and Curry, as the global face of the NBA.