The Los Angeles Lakers remove the shirt of a Pau Gasol surrounded by his parents, his wife, his brother Marc and the widow of the eternal Kobe Bryant
She hadn’t uttered a single word when her eyes were already brimming with tears. The small black curtain that covered his number 16 jersey, hung a few meters from the rafters of the Crypto.com Los Angeles Arenabegan to descend slowly and the emotion came over him suddenly. Pau Gasolthe Spanish pivot that brought the almighty Lakers to win two consecutive NBA titles, he established himself as a legend in front of his audience for six and a half seasons. “It’s been an honor to wear the jersey of this franchise,” he said, trying to maintain his composure.
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Kobe, Shaq, Jabbar, Magic and the legends with whom Pau Gasol shares the sky at Staples
Kobe, Shaq, Jabbar, Magic and the legends with whom Pau Gasol shares the sky at Staples
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Pau Gasol: “Kobe’s role in my life and in my career has been decisive”
Pau Gasol: “Kobe’s role in my life and in my career has been decisive”
As planned, his retired jersey will be installed at the top of the Los Angeles pavilion along with the two numbers that the Lakers withdrew from his “brother” on the track and in life: Kobe Bryant. With a trembling voice and surrounded by his wife, Catherine McDonnellher two young children, her parents, her brother Marc, Vanessa Bryant and the team owner Jeanie Busshe immediately remembered the star who went to knock on the door of his hotel room the first day he was transferred to the Californian team.
“I can’t go on without talking about the face that I don’t see,” he said, of the man who made him “a better player and a better person in general”, a memory that made a cry that echoed for years return to the pavilion: “Kobe, Kobe” . Gasol remembered their biggest night together, the seventh game against the Boston Celtics from 2010, when they won their second ring of champions.
Bryant’s widow was in charge of starting the tribute, giving way to a video where her late husband settled the debate on whether or not he should remove his friend’s shirt. She really wanted to be there listening to Gasol’s speech, but tragedy crossed her path in January 2020. “I love you sister,” the pivot told Vanessa. “I’m proud to be an uncle to your daughters.”
The former player thanked his parents for “guiding and inspiring him”, his teammates “for raising him up” and “making him a better player”, without forgetting to give him “a piece of that jersey”. There was also a wink for the Latino community that he put in his pocket during those years, and for the coach who bet on him, Phil Jackson. “I love you to death,” he sentenced. Ahead, a promise: to dedicate his life “to make the world a healthier and better place.”
Before, the Lakers were warming up the atmosphere. Through the giant screens of the pavilion, videos of their former colleagues were paraded, Derek Fisher, Metta Sandiford-Artest, Sasha Vujacic and Jackson himself. “You were a breath of fresh air for our team,” his coach told him on the recording. Then the voices of Magic Johnson y Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
It was a tribute squeezed to the last drop. The emotion was palpable from an hour before. Her stalwarts were not willing to miss a single detail. People like Richard Simmons, who flew from Monterey, in northern California, to be in recognition of the Catalan pvot. “He is the best,” he told EL MUNDO with enthusiasm from his seat in the front row, the same one he has occupied since 1999, when they inaugurated the old Staples Center. He is one of the few who has seen it all. Or almost everything. That’s why he puts Gasol up there, along with legends like Magic or Kareem.
“I was here when they announced the signing,” he recalls. “Gasol is an incredible human being. He is part of the Lakers tapestry and you can’t tell the story of this team without telling his own. This tribute is more than deserved.”
Zandra Angeles, an employee of the club since 2004, remembered when she helped seat the parents of the Spanish legend in his first game after being transferred. “They’re incredible people. I’m sure the city of Los Angeles will never forget what he did for all of us. He was one of those players who would always say hello to you. Quite a gentleman.”
Two hours earlier, in a room full of Spanish and American press, Gasol still confessed to being nervous and on the verge of tears. He could hardly sleep. “My heart was beating very hard at 6 in the morning. I couldn’t go back to sleep,” he recounted, in which he briefly reviewed his career, his achievements with the Grizzlies de Memphis and with the Spanish basketball team, in addition to remembering, once again, Kobe.
“I miss him a lot,” she said. “But there’s nothing he can do but love his family. That’s how I deal with it.” From his indisputable and immediate connection on the court grew a friendship that Bryant did not offer to everyone. “It translated into something beautiful with Vanessa and her daughters. And that’s a big thing.”
The best moment of his career? That seventh game against the Celtics, where he was decisive with 19 points and a huge last quarter. And to achieve, the two Olympic golds that escaped him against the USA, both with his “brother” Bryant as a rival in the final.
Despite his unquestionable humility, he admits that he is already one of the greats, a living legend of what is, along with the Celtics, the biggest franchise in the NBA. “The reason my jersey is up there is because I significantly helped win those championships,” he muses, not fully believing what has happened to him. “Tonight is beyond any dream or expectation I may have had, because it means so much,” he says.
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