Laia Palau Altés (born 10 September 1979) is a Spanish professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player, currently playing for Spanish team Spar CityLift Girona. At 314, she is the most capped player in the

Spain women's national basketball team The Spain women's national basketball team ( es, Selección Española de Baloncesto Femenina) represents Spain in international women's basketball competition, and are regulated by the Spanish Basketball Federation, the governing body for baske ...

, after being in the senior team for two decades (2002-2021). With 12 medals in final tournaments, she is also the top medallist.

Club career

Palau began her professional career with Universitari de Barcelona in 1997, and continued to play with CBF Universitari de Barcelona through 2004, winning one league title. In 2004, she joined Bourges Basket, and played with them through 2006, winning 1 league and 2 French cups. Back in Spain, she played for

Ros Casares Valencia Ros Casares Godella was a professional women's basketball team based in Godella, Spain. It played in the Liga Femenina de Baloncesto between 1996 and 2012, when it resigned to play in EuroLeague and Spanish League. It continued playing in Primer ...

between 2006 and 2012, winning 5 league titles, 4 cups and the 2011–12 EuroLeague Women. After the club's decision not to play in top tier any more, in

PLKK Basket Liga Kobiet (BLK), currently known for sponsorship reasons as Energa Basket Liga Kobiet (EBLK; 2001–2013 Polska Liga Koszykówki Kobiet, PLKK) is a professional women's club basketball league in Poland. It constitutes the first and highes ...

season 2012/13, she joined CCC Polkowice and won Championship's title and Polish Cup as well. With CCC she participated in EuroLeague Women 2012–13 reaching Final Eight and ranked #1 overall in Assists (6.4), #2 overall in Turnovers (3.8) and #2 overall in Minutes (36.2). From 2013 to 2017 she played for

USK Praha USK Praha, ( cs, Univerzitní Sportovní Klub Praha, University Sports Club Prague), formerly known as Slavia VŠ Praha ( cs, Slavia Vysoké Školy Praha), is a Czech professional basketball club that was founded in 1953 in the city of Prague ...

with whom she won the

2014–15 EuroLeague Women The 2014–15 EuroLeague Women season was the 19th edition of EuroLeague Women under its current name. Including the playoffs, the season ran from 11 November 2014 until 12 April 2015. Fifteen teams across eight countries were divided into two ...

, 4 leagues and 2 cups. In 2017, after 20 years playing professionally in Europe, she signed for Australian team Jayco Rangers. In January 2018 she signed for EuroLeague French team Bourges Basket, winning both French League and French Cup. Back in Spain, she signed for Spar CityLift Girona, winning the 2019 league and the 2021 cup.

EuroLeague statistics

EuroCup statistics

National team

She made her debut with

at the age of 22. She played with the senior team from 2002 until her retirement in 2021. She is the most capped player in the Spain national team with a total of 314 caps and with 5.9 PPG. She participated in 4

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a multi ...

, 5

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

and in 10

European Championships The European Championships is a multi-sport tournament which brings together the existing European Championships of some of the continent's leading sports every four years. The inaugural edition in 2018 was staged by the host cities of Berlin, ...

: *4th

1995 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship The 1995 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship (known at that time as 1995 European Championship for Cadets) was the 13th edition of the FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship. The cities of Setúbal, Seixal and Almada, in Portugal, hosted the tournament. ...

(''youth'') *8th 1997 FIBA Under-19 World Championship (''youth'') * 5th 2002 World Championship * Bronze medal europe

2003 Eurobasket * 6th

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

2005 Eurobasket The 2005 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 2005, was the 34th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe. It also served as Europe qualifier for the 2006 FIBA World Championship, giving a berth ...

* 8th 2006 World Championship * Silver medal europe

2007 Eurobasket The 2007 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 2007, was the 35th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe, which also served as Europe qualifier for the 2008 Summer Olympics, giving a berth to th ...

* 5th

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

2009 Eurobasket The 2009 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 2009, was the 36th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe. The tournament, which was hosted by Poland, began on 7 September and concluded with the ...

2010 World Championship * 9th 2011 Eurobasket * Gold medal europe

2013 Eurobasket * Silver medal world centered-2

2014 World Championship * Bronze medal europe

2015 Eurobasket EuroBasket 2015 was the 39th edition of the EuroBasket championship that was organized by FIBA Europe. It was co-hosted by Croatia, France, Germany, and Latvia, making it the first EuroBasket held in more than one country. It started on 5 S ...

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

2017 Eurobasket EuroBasket 2017 was the 40th edition of the EuroBasket championship that was organized by FIBA Europe and held between 31 August and 17 September 2017. Beginning from 2017, the continental championships take place every four years with a similar ...

2018 World Championship * Gold medal europe

2019 Eurobasket * 7th 2021 Eurobasket * 6th

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

References

External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Palau, Laia 1979 births Living people Basketball players from Barcelona Ros Casares Valencia players Olympic basketball players of Spain Spanish expatriate basketball people in Australia Spanish expatriate basketball people in France Spanish expatriate basketball people in Poland Basketball players at the 2004 Summer Olympics Basketball players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Basketball players at the 2016 Summer Olympics Basketball players at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for Spain Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic medalists in basketball Mediterranean Games bronze medalists for Spain Mediterranean Games medalists in basketball Competitors at the 2001 Mediterranean Games Point guards Sportswomen from Catalonia Spanish expatriate sportspeople in the Czech Republic Expatriate basketball people in the Czech Republic