LOS ANGELES — Pau Gasol, the perfect complement to Kobe Bryant, received the best possible compliment from his former team: The Los Angeles Lakers retired his jersey.
“I mean, life goes by pretty fast, right? In the blink of an eye, you can be a kid playing basketball at your school with your friends, and all of a sudden, you’re realizing your dream,” Gasol said before La Lakers’ 112-103 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday night. “But tonight, it really exceeds any dream or expectation I’ve ever had because it means so much. And obviously with Kobe up there, it just adds something meaningful and powerful, sad and happy, painful and joyful.”
“Are a lot of things”.
It was a full circle night for Gasol, who was honored by the Lakers on a night they played the team that traded him to Los Angeles. His younger brother Marc, who was part of the trade in the opposite direction from Los Angeles to Memphis. , was there to boot.
A black veil was lowered during a halftime ceremony, revealing Gasol’s number 16 positioned in the rafters directly next to Bryant’s numbers 8 and 24.
Gasol addressed the crowd at center court during the break between the second and third quarters, flanked by his parents, siblings, wife and children, as well as Lakers Governor Jeanie Buss, the Lakers’ vice president of operations. Lakers basketball player and general manager Rob Pelinka and Vanessa Bryant. , making her first public appearance on Crypto.com Arena since her late husband’s funeral.
“I miss him so much,” Gasol said when asked about Bryant. “There’s nothing I can do about it but love his family. That’s how I treat him.”
The Lakers reached three straight NBA Finals as soon as Gasol arrived in February 2008, winning back-to-back championships in 2009 over the Orlando Magic and 2010 over their longtime rivals, the Boston Celtics.
“Kobe welcomes you and says, ‘Let’s go out there and win a ring,'” Gasol recalled. “And I’m like, ‘OK, I’m in.'”
They won two, and Gasol used them Tuesday night, one in each hand.
After a video tribute during the second quarter, Gasol received a lengthy standing ovation from the crowd, patting his chest with one hand while supporting his 2-year-old daughter, Elisabet Gianna, with the other. Her daughter was named after Bryant’s daughter, Gianna, who was one of the victims of the January 2020 helicopter crash that also claimed the lives of her father and seven others.
Gasol, who was the second Spaniard to play in the NBA and the first to reach the Finals, was received by several teammates and countrymen from the Spanish team, including José Calderón, Juan Carlos Navarro, Felipe Reyes and Juancho Hernangómez.
A host of former Lakers came to the game, including Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Derek Fisher, Metta Sandiford-Artest, Jordan Farmar, james worthy and longtime trainer Gary Vitti. miami heats star jimmy butlerwho played with Gasol on the Chicago Bulls, also attended the game.
Phil Jackson, who coached Gasol for four of the six seasons he played in Los Angeles, also made a rare appearance at the arena, watching the game from a suite.
Jackson, Fisher, Sandiford-Artest and Sasha Vujacic also recorded video messages for Gasol that were shown on the video screen during a first-half timeout.
Gasol was the 12th player in franchise history to have his number honored, joining a long line of legendary greats from George Mikan to Wilt Chamberlain, Abdul-Jabbar to Shaquille O’Neal.
“I think the common thread is that I brought something valuable to the team to help them win,” Gasol said. “I wouldn’t dare compare myself to those great players. I have so much respect and honor. Part of the reason I’m there is that I significantly helped the team win those championships. (If) we didn’t. If we won those championships, we wouldn’t be sitting here.”
