The Los Angeles Lakers announced on Wednesday that they would retire the jersey worn by Pau Gasol (with number 16) during his time in the Californian franchise from 2008 to 2014. The ceremony will take place on March 7, at the occasion of the NBA regular season game against the Memphis Grizzlies, another team where the Spaniard played.
” A champion, a legend and part of the Lakers family forever. On March 7, 2023 we will take Pau Gasol’s jersey to the roof “, announced the Lakers, on their Twitter account.
The 11th Lakers player to have his jersey retired
With the LA team, Gasol won two championship rings, alongside the late Kobe Bryant, in 2009 and 2010. He was also selected to the All-Star Game three times (2009, 2010 and 2011). Gasol will become the 11th player to have his jersey retired by the Lakers after Elgin Baylor, Jerry West, Wilt Chamberlain, Gail Goodrich, Magic Johnson, Jamaal Wilkes, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, James Worthy, Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant.
The Spanish player will also be the seventh European to know this honor in the NBA, after the Croatian Drazen Petrovic (New Jersey Nets) – posthumously, Petrovic having died in a road accident in 1993 -, the Serbs Peja Stojakovic and Vlade Divac (Sacramento Kings), Lithuanian Zydrunas Ilgauskas (Cleveland Cavaliers), Frenchman Tony Parker (San Antonio Spurs) and German Dirk Nowitzki (Dallas Mavericks).
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