Pau Gasol repeatedly honored Kobe Bryant Tuesday night when his jersey went up at the Crypto.com Arena. (Harry How/Getty Images)
The Los Angeles Lakers honored one of the franchise’s all-time greatest centers on Tuesday night.
The Lakers officially retired Pau Gasol’s #16 jersey to the rafters of the Crypto.com Arena at halftime in their game against the Memphis Grizzlies.
Gasol took his seats after the first quarter while carrying his daughter and received a huge standing ovation.
The Lakers then unveiled his jersey in the rafters right next to Kobe Bryant’s two jerseys at halftime.
Gasol was traded midway through the 2007-08 season by the Memphis Grizzlies to the Lakers, who made a deal to land him on draft night after the Atlanta Hawks threw the 2001 No. 3 overall pick at Spain’s 7-footer had selected.
Gasol spent the next six seasons in Los Angeles, where he and Bryant won back-to-back NBA titles in 2009 and 2010 and reached the finals in three straight seasons.
Gasol earned three of his six All-Star nominations before leaving the Lakers in 2014 to pursue his career elsewhere. He averaged 17 points and 9.2 rebounds and averaged more than 20,000 points and had more than 11,000 rebounds in his 18 seasons in the league. Gasol was also named a finalist to be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame later this year.
Pau Gasol reflects on career, friendship with Kobe Bryant
Gasol was both very close to Bryant during their time together in Los Angeles and remained friends until Bryant died in a helicopter crash in 2020. Kobe’s widow, Vanessa Bryant, who was on court with Gasol Tuesday night, even presented Gasol with the WNBA’s Kobe & Gigi Bryant WNBA Advocacy Award earlier this year.
Gasol reflected on his relationship with Bryant ahead of Tuesday night’s game.
“When you’re with a player or a person of that caliber, who demands excellence from themselves and everyone else, that’s something you want to be with,” Gasol said of Bryant. “I tried to complement it. to offer as much as he and the team needed at the time. I had to evolve as a player to get better, to be the second big player on our team. I put my mind, effort and heart into it. I think when I look back, three finals in a row, it’s not easy.”
The story goes on
Gasol also mentioned Bryant on the pitch after his jersey blew up.
“I miss him as much as a lot of us do,” Gasol said. “I love him, I wish he was here with Gigi, I really do. But I think he would be proud.”
While it took a few years, Gasol finally made it into the rafters, just as Bryant predicted after winning an Oscar in 2018.
“Pau, when he retires, he’s going to have his number in the rafters next to mine,” Bryant said in 2018. “The reality is I’m not going to win these championships without Pau. The city of LA doesn’t have these two championships without Pau Gasol… I really look forward to the day he delivers his speech here on Center Court to all the fans who have supported him over the years.”
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