Pau Gasol will have his No. 16 retired when the Los Angeles Lakers host the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday night — the team that traded him to LA 15 years ago — and the retired NBA star still gets emotional knowing that his jersey will be hanging next to Kobe Bryant's at Crypto.com Arena.
“Just trying to little by little take it in and just digest and comprehend that my number, my jersey will be up there with those great amazing players and names in the history of our game,” Gasol told ESPN this week.
“And obviously being next to Kobe, seeing his name, it's still emotional. And I know that that's going to be the triggering point for me…So those two factors together are just a tough cocktail.”
Gasol's No. 16 will soon reside next to the Nos. 8 and 24 of his legendary teammate. Bryant had his jersey raising fast-tracked by the Lakers, just two seasons after his incredible 60-point finale during a ceremony in Dec. 2017.
Kobe was able to experience “the pride and nostalgia from five championships and two decades with the franchise alongside his family and 18,997 endlessly appreciative Lakers fans in attendance,” wrote ESPN's Dave McMenamin on Monday.
After the worldwide hero passed away in a tragic helicopter crash in Jan. 2020, along with his daughter Gigi and seven others, his widow Vanessa accepted the honor of him being inducted into the Hall of Fame in May of 2021.
Pau Gasol and Kobe Bryant were an incredible combination on the court, combining for three straight Finals appearances and two titles.
“It's impossible [to separate],” Gasol told ESPN. “It's inevitable. I don't know how…My number goes up there, in big reason, because of him. And also how he made me better, how he made us better, how he led us in those runs and the effect that he had. And then obviously not having him here with us, it's tough.”
No Lakers player will ever wear the No. 16 again; Gasol's jersey will forever hang at Crypto.com Arena along with Kobe Bryant.
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