Raptors News: Marc Gasol Fully Healed And Ready To For Toronto Title Defense

Marc Gasol spent a great deal of the 2019-20 NBA season in the sidelines due to a hamstring injury. But it appears the Spaniard is one of several players who have gotten a boost from the forced COVID-19 pandemic. Toronto Raptors head coach Nick Nurse says that the 35-year-old player is good to go and fully healed.

“As far as I’m aware, he’s fully healed,” Nurse said in a report from Michael Grange of Sportsnet. “And as you know he looks great. His skills look fantastic as well. He looks like he’s in good shape. I don’t see any issues.”

With Gasol back in harness, the Raptors get a big boost in their NBA title retention plans. The Raptors are at the second place of the NBA Eastern Conference and need all the help they can get heading into the playoff round. Better yet, it appears Nurse will get an in-shape Gasol when the bubble games commence.

"I did ask him about what was the key, 'What'd you do?' and he just said 'Man, it was consistency,'" Nurse narrated during the team's practice at Walt Disney World in Orlando.

Like most players who were forced to stay indoors, it appears the Spaniard used the time to shed off some pounds. He looked pretty slim and showed off his in-form body on his social media account captioned "Let's do this. It's the little details that are vital. Step by step."

Though he seems to be in pretty good shape, questions remain on how focused Gasol is heading into the NBA bubble league. According to his rookie teammate Terrence Davis, the veteran center has been in playoff mode since the summer.

“He’ll probably tell you that himself, he’s been in playoff mode since [last] April and he’s gonna continue being in that mode. He looks really, really good, he’s moving really well. He looks like Prime Marc to me, so, I don’t know, man. It’s scary,” Davis said.

Though the Raptors lost big when Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green moved to the Los Angeles Clippers and the Los Angeles Lakers, Toronto cannot be taken for granted. Like last season, the Raptors will be in for a battle to repeat as NBA champions - assuming that the NBA resumption does not encounter any problems.