Pau Gasol Fans Crowd Twitter Demanding His Return after Lakers Sign Marc Gasol

The Los Angeles Lakers have played a card that not many thought they were hiding. They traded JaVale McGee and their future second-round pick to the Cleveland Cavaliers to make space for the incoming Marc Gasol from the Toronto Raptors. 

Shakespeare once famously said, “What’s in a name?”, and for Lakers’ fans, there is a lot in the name if it ends with Gasol. Fans went into a frenzy when the news of a Gasol brother signing with the Lakers broke. Their excitement touched the ceiling as they began demanding the comeback of their main man, the legendary Pau Gasol.

Lakers’ fans have a unique request for the Jeanie Buss led franchise

The Lakers’ fans keep Power Gasol in very high regard and want his jersey to be retired. Many fans also believe that making his jersey retire will be a tribute to Kobe Bryant because Pau’s jersey number is the difference (24 – 8 = 16) of the two jersey numbers that The Black Mamba held. 

Have a look at the flurry of tweets that demand the jersey retirement by allowing Pau to again play for the Lakers.

The last time Pau played was in the 2018-19 season when he represented the Milwaukee Bucks in three games. He could not play any more than that because of his inability to recover from his left foot injury on time. However, later in an interview, he did show a thin willingness to retire in the Purple and Golden jersey. 

It is possible only in a utopian world to have Pau back on a ceremonial contract. If one was to imagine his comeback, it would take Michael Jordan’s retirement age of 40 years 58 days past his.

Pau Gasol and his immortal legacy in Los Angeles

Pau entered the Lakers squad in 2008 when the Memphis Grizzlies traded him in order to receive a package that also had Marc Gasol in it. That trade solved the center position questions for the Lakers and gave Kobe Bryant his next Shaquille O’Neal. The duo of Kobe and Pau won two consecutive NBA titles in 2009 and ‘10. In his entire tenure with the Lakers, Pau had just seven odd games when he did not start for the team.

The two-time NBA Champion played 402 games for the Lakers, averaging 17.7 pts, p.p boards, 3.5 assists, and 1.4 blocks at 52.4% from the field. Averaging a double-double across six seasons is not something that one regularly hears of.  

Lakers’ fans have continued to honor the league legend, and this becomes evident every single time Pau posts something even remotely related to the Lakers. His recent posts to honor Kobe Bryant’s family also garnered welcoming reactions, and hence it is obvious that fans now want one last chance to somehow pay a tribute to his greatness.

What do you think? How should the Lakers respond to fans asking for Pau’s comeback?