From sleeping on the floor of a bus to becoming a world champion 8,000 kilometers from home

Torelló"It was like when you're a little kid and you're not aware of what you're doing. You've done something prankish and suddenly someone grabs you and says: «Hey, look what you just did.». And you say: «Holy shit, what have I done?»This is Guim Expósito (Cerdanyola del Vallès, 1994), who was crowned 3x3 World Champion a few days ago with the Spanish national basketball team in Mongolia. And, as if that weren't enough, he rounded off one of the best weeks of his life by being named MVP of the tournament. "These are days of having an avalanche of messages and responding a bit on autopilot and losing a bit of context and control of life, the oremus," he admits. He's "a little overwhelmed, but very happy." The women's team had one Olympic silver medal, two golds, and two European silvers and was among the favorites, but the men's team had only competed twice in the World Championships in this emerging sport (2012, the first, and 2016). The gold medal was downright "unimaginable" for a team that traveled to Mongolia with nothing to lose.

Living through a World Cup was already "a real dream" for that child and that point guard who grew up admiring Raúl López, José Manuel Calderón, Sergio Rodríguez and Ricky Rubio, glued to the television or computer screen. He watched videos of highlights on YouTube and would run off to imitate his idols. There was no basket at home. "Looking back, it was the right decision by my parents so they wouldn't have been able to sleep, because the sound of the bouncing ball would have disrupted—especially during the summers and holidays—many moments of tranquility. But at that moment, it caused me a lot of crying and a lot of tantrums, but it was a no-no, but it was a no-no. It was one of the Three Kings' list and one of my birthdays," he says. He did have a ball. To be able to play indoors without getting scolded, he would put it inside a plastic bag or a mat to muffle its noise: like a silencer.

He made a career in the silver and bronze categories of Spanish basketball, but in 2021, he went viral for a tweet in which he explained that he was leaving professional basketball, fed up with "surviving" on thousand-euro, eight-month contracts and "disenchanted." They often took the bus to and from the game on the same day and slept on the floor: on a camping insulator or a small mattress. "It's a very sacrificial world because you put aside a lot of things, like working with family and friends. You're away from home a lot and you miss out on a lot of things: Christmas, New Year's, birthdays, maybe the last moments of a loved one, maybe the birth of someone close—and it's not worth it financially either. It's not like it's a toll you have to pay that will solve your life," he reflects. Thanks to 3x3, he has recovered "the joy of playing and being happy on the court."

He works at a startup and enjoys basketball.

He plays with the Barcelona 3x3 team. A few days ago, they became the first Spanish team to reach the semi-finals of a world tour event. They are ranked 24th and the challenge is to conquer the top10He's the treasurer: 3x3, so dynamic, so adapted to the times of Netflix and TikTok, is growing a lot at the amateur level in Catalonia and Spain, but it must take a "step forward" professionally. This explosion must be accompanied by greater support at the institutional and sponsor levels. Barcelona 3x3, unlike most of its rivals, has no sponsors and relies on the prize money it wins and the players' own money.

Expósito works on the business strategy of a startup that gives him the "freedom" he needs to travel the world to enjoy elite 3x3. "The economic conditions are much more humble than the job I had before, more conventional, but it allows me to enjoy what I like most. It was my commitment in terms of living standards: to prioritize these last few years when I see that I can really enjoy 3x3 and I'll have time to work and earn a better living financially. But now I wouldn't be so happy." These days, more than one client has asked him if he's the Guim Expósito they see in the newspapers and on TV.

"After winning the final and collecting the MVP award, I did a few radio interviews. Suddenly, you feel like they've given way to a world champion, and your first reaction while you're waiting is: «Damn, let's see who comes out now.». If Marc Márquez, Rafa Nadal, someone like that. You don't even realize they're introducing you," he admits, laughing. "He didn't expect the gold or the MVP. Scratches from the celebration. From jumping up and down and hugging each other with the medals on and them clinking together."