Lakers News: Fan Favorite And Two-Time Champion Makes 2023 Hall Of Fame Shortlist
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Former Los Angeles Lakers power forward/center Pau Gasol has made the shortlist for the Naismith Hall of Fame Class of 2023, reports Marc Stein.
Gasol, a finesse-oriented big man, was famously traded from the Memphis Grizzlies (who drafted him in 2001 with the third overall pick) to the Lakers in 2008 for cents on the dollar, and immediately formed a jumbo-sized frontline along with 6'10" reserve forward Lamar Odom and 7' starting center Andrew Bynum. Along with 2020 Hall of Famer Kobe Bryant and longtime point guard Derek Fisher, they represented a core that led the Lakers to three straight NBA Finals appearances from 2008-2010, winning in the latter two seasons against the Orlando Magic and Boston Celtics.
The 7' Gasol stayed in L.A. through the 2013-14 NBA season, before signing on with the Chicago Bulls in free agency in the hopes of adding to his trophy collection. Over the course of his 18-year career in the league, Gasol boasts averages of 17 points per game on .507/.368/.753 shooting splits, 9.2 rebounds, 3.2 assists, and 1.6 blocks. The Spaniard was a six-time All-Star, a four-time All-NBA Team inclusion, and the second-best player, behind Bryant, on those two title-winning clubs. He was also the 2002 Rookie of the Year.
Stein reveals that three other starry candidates for inclusion in Springfield next year have major ties to one of the Kobe Bryant-era Lakers' arch nemeses in the Western Conference, the San Antonio Spurs.
Six-time All-Star San Antonio point guard Tony Parker -- who won four titles with the Spurs -- longtime head coach Gregg Popovich -- who has won five -- and former assistant coach Becky Hammon all also made the shortlist for the Hall. Hammon has been nominated for her WNBA playing tenure. A 5'6" point guard, Hammon was a six-time All-Star while with the New York Liberty and San Antonio Stars (now rebranded as the Las Vegas Aces, with whom she just won a title in her first year as head coach). She was most recently named to the W's 25th Anniversary Team in 2021, and remains the all-time leader in assists.
Another Western Conference foe, Dallas Mavericks power forward Dirk Nowitzki, also made the shortlist. All these candidates seem like shoo-ins to make the cut next year. Dirk's Mavericks were responsible for ending the Lakers' 2011 bid to three-peat, by brutally sweeping them in the Conference Semifinals. Phil Jackson retired for good as a head coach in the offseason.
