Pau Gasol and Sue Bird Discuss the 2026 FIBA Women’s World Cup and Growing the Women's Global Game

Sue Bird (0:00)

Support for the show comes from JustWorks. If you're a small business owner, you're used to rolling up your sleeves to get things done. In fact, you probably love it, but that doesn't mean you should spend your Saturday night staring at tax and payroll forms, when you could be strategizing your next move. That's why JustWorks handles the stuff you can't afford to get wrong. They combine intuitive software with real people, all working to help keep your eye on the big picture. So instead of stretching yourself thin, you can focus and shoot your small business shot. You don't have to worry when it just works. Head to justworks.com to learn more.

Support for the show comes from Google Gemini. Travel comes with a million logistics, itineraries, dinners, events. But with Gemini, I can simplify the moving parts. Gemini's personal intelligence connects the dots across my Gmail, Photos, Search and YouTube. Any Google apps that I choose or choose not to connect to make suggestions tailored to me.

Having Gemini handle the heavy lifting lets me just enjoy the parts of the trip I love and forget everything else. Download Gemini Google's AI app or visit gemini.google.com to learn more.

Pau Gasol (1:09)

Nothing is enough or nothing will be good enough unless we win the gold. Playing with that determination, with that grit, with that approach, with that hunger, you know. You have a better chance. You have an edge. You have an edge.

Sue Bird (1:21)

Right. I think you just wrote my speech for what I'm going to say to the team.

SPEAKER_3 (1:27)

Before they take the floor for this World Cup.

Sue Bird (1:37)

Hey, everybody. Welcome back to Bird's Eye View. Yes, the WNBA is on a break, but that doesn't mean the basketball has stopped. In fact, the basketball has gotten even more competitive during this time. It's actually a very special time of the year for the women's game. It is the FIBA Women's World Cup. The best 16 women's basketball teams from around the world have descended upon Berlin, Germany, to battle for the 2026 World Cup title. It's why we recorded this episode a couple of weeks ago, because I am on the ground in Berlin with Team USA as we speak or as you listen. Joining me on the pod this week is somebody who knows a thing or two about the global game. Not only is he a two-time NBA champion with the Los Angeles Lakers, but he helped Spain to its first FIBA World Cup title in 2006 He was like 26 years old, one MVP, incredible. He was inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame in 2025 as the most successful basketball player in Spain's history. This year he joins me as one of the, or actually I join him, as one of the global ambassadors for the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup. Continuing his commitment to growing the women's game worldwide, the legendary, the international icon, Pau Gasol is my guest this week. We're going to talk about the importance of global competition, rising stars from our respective countries, and of course this year's tournament in Berlin, which he is also at.

But listen, before we get to the interview, you know what time it is, it's time for Sue's View.

So for this week's Sue's View, I'm calling it the FIBA edition for obvious reasons, very creative there. So I just want to set the stage a little bit. You know, something that people might not know about the FIBA World Cup is, generally speaking, even though the Olympics for women's basketball is much bigger, has a lot more notoriety to it, feels like the stakes are higher, which by the way, it's the Olympics, of course they are, the World Cup is actually harder.

It used to be even harder. They've actually changed the competition system. So you only play, if you go to the finals, six games now, it used to be like eight, nine, but it's the qualification. For the Olympics, it's a little more like geography-based, certain areas of the world have to have representation for the World Cup. It's basically like a little bit of geography, but basically best team gets in. So you might see more teams from Europe as an example in this competition in the World Cup than you do in the Olympics. So that's just something to noodle on. I would say in my experience, and I'll hit you guys with my favorite memory, I would say in my experience the World Cup was harder.

Not that the Olympics wasn't hard. I think that's something with Team USA, with USA basketball because of our gold medals and our success, people assume and maybe they do see some lopsided scores. They assume all the games are like that, they're not. If I start with the Olympics really fast, every single Olympics, definitely one, maybe two games were dicey.