Nearly a year after Pau Gasol stopped playing basketball after 18 seasons in the NBA, during which he won back-to-back championships with the Los Angeles Lakers. The team announced Wednesday that it would retire his number 16 in March.
Gasol turned 42 last month and will have his number raised to the rafters at Arena in Los Angeles on March 7, when the Lakers play Gasol’s first team in the NBA, the Memphis Grizzlies.
Gasol will be the 11th player in Lakers’ history to have his number retired. He will be the fourth center to join Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Shaquille O’Neal, and Wilt Chamberlain in the Hall of Fame.
“I’m more than grateful and proud!” Gasol replied by posting on Twitter.
The 7-foot-1 Spaniard who played for the Lakers for three of his six All-Star Game appearances announced his retirement in October last year. He was picked 3rd overall by the Atlanta Hawks in the 2001 NBA Draft, but he has traded to the Memphis Grizzlies on draft day.
After more than seven years in Memphis, where he averaged 18.8 points and 8.6 rebounds per game. Also, a trade deadline deal sent him to the Lakers in February 2008. It changed the course of the league and the Lakers. Gasol and Kobe Bryant, whose numbers 8 and 24 are also retired by the team, led L.A. to the NBA Finals three times in a row from 2008 to 2010. Where they won the championship in 2009 and 2010.
Pau Gasol Professional career
He played for Grizzlies from 2001 to 2008, Lakers from 2008 to 2014, Chicago Bulls from 2014 to 2016. San Antonio Spurs from 2016 to 2019, and Milwaukee Bucks from 2016 to 2019. He started 1,150 of his 1,226 NBA games and averaged 17.0 points, 9.2 rebounds, and 3.2 assists per game (2019).
Gasol is one of only four NBA players to have more than 20,000 points, 11,000 rebounds, 3,500 assists, and 1,500 blocks in a career. The other three are Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett, both in the Hall of Fame.
Gasol won two silver medals and one bronze medal with Spain at the Olympics. He is known as one of the best passers in the center position in the history of the NBA.
Pau Gasol’s No. 16 jersey on March 7, 2023
The Lakers declared today in a press release that they will retire Pau Gasol’s No. 16 jersey on March 7, 2023. On that night, the Lakers will be hosting the Grizzlies. The Grizzlies got Gasol in a draft-night trade in 2001 and sent him to the Lakers in 2008.
It has traded to the Lakers in the big deal that sent his brother Marc Gasol to Memphis. Pau played 429 regular season games for the team, averaging 17.7 points, 9.9 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 1.4 blocks per game in 35.7 minutes while shooting 52.2% from the floor.
Gasol, has announced his retirement last October at age 41, was a vital part of the Lakers’ 2009 and 2010 championships. In 46 games (40.1 MPG), he averaged 18.9 PPG, 11.0 RPG, 3.0 APG, and 2.0 BPG. During his time in Los Angeles, the star forward/center made three All-Star teams. He also made the All-NBA Third Team in 2009 and 2010 and the All-NBA Second Team in 2011.
Gasol hasn’t played in the NBA since 2019, so he will be eligible for the Hall of Fame class of 2023. He has an excellent chance of being inducted. Gasol has an impressive record in the OKBet NBA and has also won many medals with the Spanish national team.
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