Estudiantes forward Carlos Jimenez has decided to call time on his glittering career at the age of 36.
The veteran will make his last appearance on May 6th when his side face Murcia in a Liga Endesa (ACB) clash which will be his 630th league game spanning nearly 18 years. He’ll rank fifth in games played overall.
“I will not continue,” Jimenez told Spanish daily El Mundo. “They are my last games and I want to have as best memory as possible.”
With Estudiantes, Jimenez won the Korac Cup in 1995 and 1996 and he also had two seasons in the Euroleague in ’97 and ’98.
He played for 13 seasons with the Madrid-based club and five with Unicaja Malaga. His dedication and longevity was to be admired as the Spaniard spent all his summers with the national team. Jimenez’s finest achievement came at the 2006 world championships in Japan, where he led Spain to the gold medal following a thumping victory against Greece in the final.
His last game for the national side came in the 2008 Olympic gold-medal game against the United States in Beijing, a game that could arguably be one of the most memorable international games in recent memory. The forward scored 12 points in 25 minutes on court.
Spain unfortunately just came up short, settling for silver, and Jimenez let his team-mates know that that was his last game as an international player. It was typical of the ‘team comes first’ mentality that he had.
Estudiantes are struggling with a 9-20 record in the ACB and the threat of relegation to the LEB still looms, but Jimenez is still proud.
“I hope I can leave with a nice sporting memory and help Estudiantes avoid relegation,” he told El Mundo.
“If not, I hope I can take with me the fact that I have enjoyed each day, each game and what I’ve done. I hope we get good results.”
