Pau Gasol spent 18 seasons in the NBA, 7 of them with the Los Angeles Lakers, during which he won 2 NBA championships with the late great Kobe Bryant. Gasol’s arrival in 2008 changed life for Bryant and the team, who had been mired in mediocrity after Shaquille O’Neal’s departure in 2004.
So, it was only fitting that when Gasol retired last year, the team immediately stated that his jersey would be getting retired, and the Spaniard recently gave an update on when it could happen.
“The ceremony could be the next season,” Gasol said to Catalonian radio RAC 1, per Marc Mundet. “Yes, I’ve talked to the franchise and Buss family. We are all very excited”.
“It’s hard to imagine a moment like this,” Gasol said. “If it comes, it might be full of emotion, and tough to control myself. I’m very excited it comes to reality”.
Immediately on his arrival in LA, Gasol helped the Lakers, who hadn’t made it past the first round since O’Neal departed, get to the NBA Finals. While they’d end up losing on that occasion to the Celtics, the Lakers would go on to win back-to-back championships in 2009 and 2010, with the 2010 triumph seeing them gain revenge over those Celtics. Postseason success would, however, elude him for the rest of his time there, and Gasol left the team in 2014 before retiring last year with Barcelona.
Despite some down years towards the end, Pau averaged 17.7 points to go with 9.9 rebounds per game during his time with the Lakers. Trading for him really saved the franchise, and who knows if they ever get out of the rut they had been in post-2004 without him. He will become the 11th player to get the honor of the Lakers retiring his jersey, and he also becomes just the 7th European to have his jersey retired by an NBA team.
