Former Los Angeles Lakers star guard Kobe Bryant is celebrating his 40th birthday on Thursday that has brought forth plenty of well wishes from several of his former longtime teammates. Among those is San Antonio Spurs forward and his former teammate, Pau Gasol.

The longtime Spaniard spent a significant bulk of his career playing alongside Bryant with the Lakers during their respective careers, even winning two NBA Championships. Gasol used the opportunity to both send a personal message to the 18-time All-Star along with a playful little jab at him.

Gasol isn't too far off that age heading into his 17th year in the league at the age of 38 while still playing at a high level. Nonetheless, it shows a snippet of the strong bond the two shared that saw them spend six-and-a-half years playing alongside each other with Los Angeles where they achieved a tremendous amount of success. This saw them lead the team to three straight NBA Finals while winning a pair of titles during that stretch.

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In total, he and Bryant guided the team to six total playoff appearances, five Pacific division titles, and four 50-win campaigns over their tenure together. This also saw Gasol play some of the best basketball of his career with Bryant earning three of his All-Star Game selections along with both All-NBA Third Team nods, and an All-NBA Second team selection. There is still a tight bond between the two that was forged from the success that they experienced with the Lakers that has imprinted their legacies on the franchise by adding two more NBA titles to its illustrious history.

Nonetheless, this is a unique moment that Gasol took to acknowledge his longtime teammate over social media. Gasol is set to head into his 18th season in the league where he is among the oldest players still playing only trailing Vince Carter, Manu Ginobili, Jason Terry, Dirk Nowitzki, Jamal Crawford, Udonis Haslem, and Richard Jefferson.