MEMPHIS, Tenn. — When Pau Gasol closes his eyes, he can still re-imagine the moment.

He is 21 years old again, out on a fast break in a basketball arena that is no longer a basketball arena. He receives a pass from a point guard now long since retired, takes two giant Spanish steps from the foul line and slams the ball home.

Those were the first two of the 20,839 points Gasol has scored in his career. He remembers them as if they happened yesterday, and not on Nov. 1, 2001.

“I could still probably do that,” the Spurs center said with a smile that is almost wistful. “On a good day.”

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Wednesday night, the 38-year-old Gasol is back in Memphis, the city where his Hall of Fame-caliber career took root nearly two decades ago.

He returns to the FedEx Foum in the midst of one of the most conflicting periods of his basketball life.

The Spurs are winning, having claimed victory in 13 of their past 16 games. But Gasol isn’t playing.

A player who for years was regarded as one of the top 7-footers on the planet — who made six All-Star teams with three franchises and won a pair of NBA titles with the Los Angeles Lakers — now often spends his nights Gorilla glued to coach Gregg Popovich’s bench.

“It’s kind of unfamiliar territory for me,” Gasol said.

It is fair to say Gasol’s 18th NBA campaign has not gone as planned.

He opened the season as the Spurs’ second-unit center, a role that was already somewhat foreign to him. Before his arrival in San Antonio in 2016-17, Gasol had started 1,042 of his 1,055 games.

A foot injury suffered in early November kept Gasol out for 26 contests, and opened space for promising third-year pro Jakob Poeltl to take over as the team’s top backup big man.

Since returning to the active list Dec. 28 in Denver, Gasol has appeared in two games and totaled 15 minutes.

The baseline jumper he made in the first half of the Spurs’ 119-107 victory in Detroit on Monday were his first points since Nov. 4.

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“I know it’s hard for him to watch the games from the sidelines, knowing you can help,” forward Davis Bertans said. “He’s handling it well. I know he would love to play a lot of minutes and help in that way, but at the same time he’s helping everybody.”

Popovich said he still values what Gasol brings to the table.

Gasol is the NBA’s 38th leading scorer of all-time — one spot ahead of David Robinson — and one of the top passing big men in basketball history.

“He’s Pau,” Popovich said. “He does what he does. He’s been doing the same thing for a million years.”

Gasol keeps reminding himself roles and rotations have a way of ironing themselves out over time. For now, he chooses to view his lot philosophically.

He spent a month in a walking boot after being injured and another month working his way back into basketball shape.

“A little extra time is not going to kill me,” Gasol said.

At the moment, the math isn’t working in Gasol’s favor. In this small-ball era, the Spurs typically play two traditional big men per night — All-Star LaMarcus Aldridge and Poeltl.

When it comes to Popovich’s frontcourt rotation, three is a crowd.

Spurs guard Patty Mills calls the abundance of quality big men “a good problem for the coaching staff to have.” But it is also an expensive problem.

Gasol is making $16.8 million this season. Only $6.5 million of his $16 million is guaranteed in 2019-20, making Gasol a potential trade candidate as the February deadline approaches.

Often in these sort of situations, a highly paid veteran might seek a contract buyout in order to find a more amenable situation with another team. So far, Gasol has not requested one.

“If you put the right energy and the right mindset into things, things usually turn out well for you,” Gasol said. “One way or another.”

Wednesday, Gasol turns his attention to Memphis, his basketball home for his first 6 ½ seasons.

His younger brother Marc still plays there, having fashioned himself into an 11-season cornerstone of the Grizzlies franchise. The Gasols’ parents, Augusti and Marisa, live in Memphis part time.

When Pau Gasol arrived on the banks of the Mississippi River after being tabbed as the third pick in the 2001 NBA draft, he at first didn’t know what to make of the place.

It was a far cry from Barcelona, the cosmopolitan cultural hub where he grew up. Gasol’s knee-jerk knowledge of Memphis could be summed up in one word.

“Elvis,” Gasol said. “I knew Elvis.”

Gasol eventually came to embrace Memphis, even as he welcomed the 2008 trade that delivered him to Los Angeles and made him a champion.

He figured his time had run its course with the Grizzlies. The Grizzlies ultimately agreed.

“It was always constant change, that’s what I remember,” said Gasol, the NBA’s 2002 Rookie of the Year. “I had six coaches in six years. A lot of rebuilding. We had three good years where we made the playoffs, but we couldn’t get over San Antonio in their prime, or the Phoenix Suns in their prime, or the Dallas Mavericks.”

It has been nearly 11 years since Gasol bid farewell to Memphis. So much has changed, with the city and with the player.

The arena where Gasol made his NBA debut against the Detroit Pistons — The Pyramid — has been re-purposed into the world’s largest Bass Pro Shop.

The player who assisted on Gasol’s first basket, Jason Williams, has been out of the league since 2011.

Wednesday, Gasol returns to where it all began as the NBA’s fifth-oldest active player, a proud future Hall of Famer searching for his own usefulness in a new phase of his career.

“There’s always ways you can contribute,” Gasol said. “There’s a positive side to every scenario. Just got to stay a little patient, keep my poise and hopefully at some point soon …”

In the meantime, Gasol will always have his Memphis memories. Time can take much away from him, but it cannot take that.