The great legend of Barça who has gone on to draw comics

BadalonaWhen I was a child, Andrés Jiménez spent hours leafing through the comics and graphic novels his grandfather sold at a kiosk in Carmona (Seville). The only condition was not to open them too much so they would look new and could be sold without problems. That passion for illustrations never disappeared and a few years later he set out to create his own works.Jiménez changed Carmona for Badalona, as he signed for the mythical Cotonifici (1978-83). “In Carmona, not much basketball was played, but I was tall. When I was 13 years old, I was already 1.97 meters tall. I signed up for one of the Height operations that the Spanish Federation carried out and I was selected for a 15-day training camp in Cáceres. My report, which said I was willing, but that I didn't know how to play basketball very well, went around. Two years later, when I was already discouraged and wanted to quit basketball, two Cotonifici executives made me an offer”, he recalls.His great luck was to coincide with Aíto García Reneses, a coach with a privileged vision for detecting talent before others. “I landed in the best possible place because Cotonifici needed to train young players”, says Jiménez. For years, the man from Seville combined basketball with his creations. “I have always liked to draw. When I arrived in Badalona, I did not continue my studies at the Industrial School, which at that time was a bit neglected. I found out that the Pau Gargallo School of Art offered applied arts studies. I entered advertising and design and I saw that I was good at it”, he recalls.Fernando Martín, who always saw him drawing during the Spanish national team gatherings and knew he was a big fan ofAsterix and Obelix, nicknamed him Jimix. Jiménez played for Joventut for three seasons (1983-86). “When I played for La Penya, I used to do advertising campaigns, but when I joined Barça, I started to find it difficult to find the necessary time to draw. We traveled a lot and the matches were very intense. For two years I kept a weekly comic strip, but then I stopped for 20 years,” he confesses.

“It was only a few years ago that I rediscovered my passion. When I had free time again, I threw myself into it headfirst”, he admits. Now he doesn't go anywhere without his tablet, an instrument that allows him to draw anywhere. After starting a monthly collaboration with the legendary magazine Gigantes del Basket, Jiménez has taken another step and has created his own comic. Mi loca historia del básquet (Valnera Gráfica), which is being presented on Wednesday in Barcelona, includes three parts: an autobiography, his particular vision of the history of humanity, and the diary of Los Angeles 1984. That is his great sporting achievement, as he won the silver medal in the Olympic Games.A Barça retreat

Jiménez is a legend in both Badalona and Barcelona, where his number 4 jersey is retired at the Palau Blaugrana. “When I started playing basketball I played center, but little by little I moved around. After being the best shooting guard in Europe for two seasons, Aíto suggested I play shooting guard. It wasn't a simple change. I went from being a reference point to doing something I didn't know how to do. I didn't play with the same confidence and I had to learn new skills. Personally, it wasn't going well for me, but it was for the team and that's what mattered to me. Real Madrid had many problems and had to use a foreign player spot for my position, which weakened their inside game,” he explains.

Although he never won the European Cup, Jiménez has great memories of his time at Can Barça (1986-98). “We won many titles and I was able to retire when I was still in a position to keep playing. I could have signed for other teams, but I preferred my last game to be in the Barça shirt”, he clarifies. He has enough anecdotes to fill a cart. “When we played in Greece we always had problems. When there were 10 seconds left, the players on the bench started heading for the locker room. When the final buzzer sounded, the five players on the court and Aíto García Reneses started running because they were throwing everything at us: from coins to chairs”, he assures.