By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Pau Gasol said that the Los Angeles Lakers may hold his jersey retirement ceremony sometime during the next season. The Lakers had announced that they plan to hang Gasol’s #16 jersey from the rafters, shortly after the Spanish great announced his retirement from basketball last year in October.
“The ceremony could be the next season,” Gasol said to Catalonian radio RAC 1, per Marc Mundet. “Yes, I’ve talked to the franchise and Buss family. We are all very excited”.
“It’s hard to imagine a moment like this,” Gasol said. “If it comes, it might be full of emotion, and tough to control myself. I’m very excited it comes to reality”.
Gasol’s jersey will be the 11th that the Lakers retire after Kobe Bryant’s #8 and #24, Wilt Chamberlain’s #13, Elgin Baylor’s #22, Magic Johnsons, #32, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s #33, Shaquille O’ Neal’s #34, Jerry West’s #44, Gail Goodrich’s #25 and Jamaal Wilkes’ #52. The Spanish great will also be joining Drazen Petrovic (New Jersey Nets, now Brooklyn Nets), Peja Stojakovic (Sacramento Kings), Vlade Divac (Sacramento Kings), Tony Parker (San Antonio Spurs) and Zydrunas Ilgauskas (Cleveland Cavaliers) and Dirk Nowitzki (Dallas Mavericks) and become the seventh European player to have his jersey retired.
The Lakers acquired Gasol in 2008 via a trade with the Memphis Grizzlies. He had a big contribution to the team winning the back-to-back championship titles of 2009 and 2010 and wore the Purple and Gold until 2014.