Lakers News: Pau Gasol Previews Jersey Retirement Ceremony Without Kobe Bryant
Longtime Los Angeles Lakers power forward/center Pau Gasol is having a big 2023 in the basketball world, despite having not played in an NBA game since 2019 and having retired professionally in 2021.
Part of that is because he's about to have his jersey retired permanently in Los Angeles tonight during the team's game against the Memphis Grizzlies, the team that drafted Pau with the third pick in 2001. The other portion of his big 2023 is an expected first ballot entry into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame this season.
Gasol was traded to LA in a 2008 deadline deal, and when on to help lead the team to three straight NBA Finals appearances from 2008-10, winning the last two. Gasol's finesse-oriented game proved a great fit alongside Hall of Fame shooting guard Kobe Bryant and incumbent big men Andrew Bynum and Lamar Odom. Gasol left as a free agent in 2014.
In the history of the Lakers, only six players have worn Gasol's No. 16 jersey -- and only two since 1960: Gasol and reserve big John Salley, who came out of retirement to win a fourth career ring with LA in 2000. And now, no one else ever will, which is fitting, considering all that he brought to the then-Staples Center.
The seven-footer spoke with Spectrum SportsNet Lakers broadcaster Chris McGee about the honor ahead of tonight's ceremony:
"It's a huge, huge honor," Gasol said of the upcoming retirement ceremony. "Just something that I've never envisioned. And it's not just an honor to me, it's an honor to my family, my parents, and I think to a lot of people. I think it's a reflection of obviously a great run that we've had, and that I was able to do my part. So it's also an honor I think to the rest of my teammates and my coaches and the staff that we had during those years."
"Don't get me wrong, right when I joined the team, I think what I sensed from the very beginning -- and what Kobe let me know from the very first day that I joined the team in Washington [was], 'Let's go win a championship. We're not here just to make the playoffs like most teams approach it or to win some games. Wearing a Lakers jersey, you're joining our team to win a championship, to make that difference. And that was the mindset from the very second [I got there] and Kobe made sure that I knew."
"We just complimented each other well," Gasol said of Bryant. "He brought a unique edge, work ethic, dedication to the game. I think he appreciated my IQ, my understanding of the game, and my ability to catch the ball, having good hands and being able to make plays for myself and my teammates. I think I kind of balanced what he brought to the table."
It will be fun to see Gasol's jersey ascend to the rafters tonight.
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