Spain forward Pau Gasol claims that he will spend the summer resting and hinted that he is not planning to play for his country in September's European Championships.

While Spain have plenty of talent available, including Gasol and Raul Lopez in the NBA, they lack strength in depth and the loss of the former Barcelona player would be a big blow to their chances of success.

Gasol has finished the NBA season with the Memphis Grizzlies by losing in the play-offs to Phoenix Suns and now he will spend some time relaxing before heading back to Barcelona for a break and to discuss his participation in the European Championships with the Spanish national side.

"I believe that I deserve and need a rest but above all I must recover completely from my injury and then later we will see what happens," Gasol told Catalan daily Sport.

The forward will work with doctors in order to recover from a foot injury which hampered him in the latter stages of the season.

"Despite all the injury problems, I believe that I have ended the campaign at a good level and it gives me confidence for the future," he continued. 

"I have nothing to say about other issues of participation relating to basketball, my only objective is to rest at the moment."