Nicolas Laprovittola has succeeded in carving out a very successful career that has culminated with him joining Real Madrid in the summer of 2019, but back home in Argentina, he is less recognizable than his own mother, a popular anti-corruption politician.
Nicolas Laprovittola, Real: 'I have always emulated my mother'
Interviews
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Nicolas Laprovittola has succeeded in carving out a very successful career, starting out in his native Argentina before playing in the NBA along with various European countries until eventually landing with his current club, Real Madrid, in the summer of 2019, as well as representing his country at numerous international tournaments.
In his homeland, however, he is not even the most recognizable member of his own family.
The guard's mother, Margarita Stolbizer, is one of Argentina's most prominent politicians. She has campaigned for many years as an anti-corruption activist, and has filled various important roles as well as running as a presidential candidate in the 2015 general election.
"She has always stuck to her principles and values."
Laprovittola's mother qualified as a lawyer years before he and his two younger brothers were born, and from a very young age he quickly became aware of the nature of her work and the esteem in which she was held.
"I remember when I was five years old my mother was always working very hard from Monday to Friday every week," he recalls. "She was always very respected and admired throughout Argentine politics, which is a very tough and complicated environment. She is a very hard-working and dedicated person with her political work in anti-corruption. She is trying to clean up the country, which isn't easy in Argentina."
However, he also remembers that his mother was able to separate her professional life from her family life, and give her three sons a normal childhood.
"Despite her work my mother has always tried to have a low profile," he says. "She never got carried away by the political environment and has always stuck to her principles and values. We had a calm and quiet life, without any fear, living in the same house throughout the time we were growing up. I have two little brothers, just a couple of years younger than me, and we were always together and close.
"My mother has always cared for our family, which isn't easy when she has so much work and so much pressure. A lot of things have happened in her life but she always kept us away from that, and she made sure her work has never affected our family life or put us in a bad situation."
In addition to her political work Margarita is also a keen sports fan, and set up the first volleyball team in the Buenos Aires district of Moron. So when her eldest son showed a great talent for basketball and started to make his way in the professional game, she offered nothing but support.
"When I was younger my mother had the idea that I would be an ambassador or a consul, something like that, representing the country overseas," he smiles. "And in a different way, playing as a professional sportsman at the highest level, I am doing that! She has travelled to watch me play in the NBA, in Russia, in Lithuania, in Brazil and here in Spain, too. And she has always supported me and been behind me."
"My mother had the idea that I would be an ambassador or consul."
And although they have made their way in very different professions, Laprovittola has always been able to hold up his mother as a role model, using the values she has instilled as the path to follow in his own career.
"She always dedicated herself and put a lot of effort and passion into what she does," he explains. "She is an example I have always emulated, showing me the importance of always trying to work hard and get better every day.
"All the dedication and passion she puts into something so difficult was like a mirror for me, and made me understand that I have to dedicate myself towards whatever I want to achieve. I have the same dedication to always want to know more and to improve. That's what I try to do in my career, to be the best that I can be. I am very proud of her, and very happy to have her as my mother."