It is a moment of honor for an athlete when the franchise retires the athlete’s jersey number. But when an iconic team of a specific sport does it, that’s something extra special about that. Pau Gasol, former NBA player, became the 12th LA Lakers player to have his jersey number retired on Tuesday. Many athletes attended the ceremony, along with LA Galaxy soccer star Riqui Puig, a former teammate of Lionel Messi.  

The ceremony took place at halftime between LA Lakers and the Memphis Grizzlies game. Gasol started his NBA career with Grizzlies in 2001 when he joined from the Spanish side FC Barcelona. It was his stint at the Lakers from 2008 to 2014 that made Gasol a legend of the NBA, and the franchise honored the Spaniard by retiring his jersey number 16. 

Pau Gasol dwarfed former FC Barcelona soccer star

LA Galaxy star Riqui Puig was in attendance alongside the likes of the NBA legends Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, James Worthy, and others. A pic of the two resurfaced on social media, where Puig gifted a LA Galaxy jersey signed by the players to Gasol. 5’7″ Puig looked diminutive in front of the former NBA legend, who is 7’1″.  

It was an emotional moment for the former FC Barcelona basketball player who happened to play alongside Kobe Bryant. Gasol was sensational in the Lakers’ back-to-back 2009 and 2010 championships. Gasol made it to the NBA All-Stars six times in his career and won the Rookie of the Year in 2002. 

Gasol joins Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal, Magic Johnson, Jamal Wilkes, Wilt Chamberlain, Elgin Baylor, Gail Goodrich, Jerry West, James Worthy, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and George Mikan, whose jerseys were retired by the Lakers. The Lakers honored the Spaniard by placing his jersey near the iconic number 24 of Kobe Bryant. This is iconic as Bryant once predicted that they would retire Gasol’s jersey one day.

The prediction of the Late Kobe Bryant came true

Late Bryant predicted back in 2018 that the Lakers will retire Gasol’s jersey and place it near to his own. NBA great said, “When Pau retires, he will have his number in the rafters next to mine. I really look forward to the day where he’s giving his speech at center court in front of all the fans who have supported him over the years.”

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Vanessa Bryant, Kobe’s widow, attended the ceremony, and Gasol thanked her for coming. Gasol had a great friendship with Kobe Bryant and remembered him during his speech. 

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Let us know your thoughts on the career of Pau Gasol and his great relationship with Kobe Bryant.