On Tuesday night, the Los Angeles Lakers honored Pau Gasol by retiring his jersey at halftime of the game against the Memphis Grizzlies. It was an emotional affair, with not many dry eyes in the building. After seeing his jersey unveiled next to the late, great Kobe Bryant's, Gasol let everyone know just how much the legend meant to him. His words left the crowd chanting Kobe's name.
It was a moment that even I, a die hard Celtics fan, got goosebumps watching. He might have broken my heart many times, but even I cannot mitigate what Gasol accomplished during his Hall of Fame career.
It also got me thinking of many of those moments and led to this piece. What are Pau Gasol's moments with the Lakers that fans might have overlooked or forgotten with time.
Pau Gasol's Best Forgotten Moments with Lakers
March 27, 2009 vs. Nets
During the 2008-2009 season, Gasol and Bryant were looking to bring the Lakers back to glory. Late during the regular season, they visited the Vince Carter, Devin Harris and the New Jersey Nets.
On this night, Gasol scored the most points he ever scored in a Lakers uniform. He dropped 36 points and was incredibly efficient doing so, hitting 14 of 19 shots from the field. On a night when Kobe Bryant struggled with just 14 points, it was Gasol that led the way on both ends. He added 11 rebounds, seven assists, two steals and two blocks as the Lakers went on to win 103-95 on the road.
2010 Western Conference Semi-Finals vs. Jazz
Here is how good Gasol is; the big man had so many performances with 30+ points, double digit rebounds on efficient scoring evenings that just slide under the radar like it was just a casual thing. But that was Pau. He never garnered much attention, but he just put up stats time and again.
During the Lakers' run to their second straight NBA Championship, he helped bury the Utah Jazz earlier in the playoffs. During the final game of a four-game sweep, Gasol dropped 33 and 14 to go with a couple assists and a couple blocks. This time, Kobe helped out pouring in 32 himself as Los Angeles eliminated the upstart Jazz.
2008 Western Conference First-Round vs. Nuggets
In his first playoff game as a member of the Lakers, Pau Gasol immediately put the league on notice. The Lakers were facing the 50-win Denver Nuggets team that had, at that time, maybe the best defensive center in the game in Marcus Camby.
All Gasol did was humiliate the former Defensive Player of the Year to the tune of 36 points, 16 rebounds, eight assists and three blocks in the win.
Even though the Lakers' season would ultimately end in an NBA Finals loss to the rival Celtics, Gasol showed everyone just how good he really is. More importantly, he probably proved to Kobe that he finally had a ‘Robin' again for the first time since the Kobe-Shaq days.
2010 NBA Finals Game 7 vs. Celtics
In 2010, the Lakers and Celtics once again found themselves battling for a championship. It was a crucial game in NBA history, as the Celtics led the Lakers 17-15 in titles. Had Boston prevailed, they would have put even more space between them. But not only that, but the Lakers had never beaten the Celtics in a Game 7 scenario. This iteration of the Lakers were being called ‘soft' by Celtics fans.
Gasol proved otherwise, helping LA to win a highly physical, 83-79 slobber-knocker.
Kobe Bryant had one of his worst games shooting the basketball during his illustrious career. It was Pau Gasol who picked him up, alongside others of course. Gasol was the only starter for Los Angeles to post a positive plus-minus, going for 19 and 18 and holding the uber-physical Kevin Garnett in check.
Gasol is a Lakers legend who will never be forgotten.
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