Sirius XM held a quick interview with future Hall of Famer and Lakers legend Pau Gasol during All-Star weekend. When talking about his NBA journey. More specifically, in the journey with the Lakers, he understood that the timing couldn’t have been better for his career.
“We had three straight final runs, we won the last two, obviously I played with one of the greatest players of all-time with Kobe [Bryant], my brother that I miss so much.”
Pau Gasol and Bryant had so much love and respect for each other. We’ve seen that on display time and time again when Pau honors the late great Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna.
The Lakers are retiring Pau’s jersey number on March 7th when the team hosts the Memphis Grizzlies. This will be a wonderful moment for Lakers Nation to take in, enjoy, and reminisce about all the terrific seasons Pau had in Purple and Gold. It will be tough for many not to see Kobe alongside him on Pau’s night. Pau added in his interview, “I wish he would be here enjoying all this. It really changed my life.“
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The two clicked immediately as teammates. Naturally gifted scorers who knew where each other were going to be at all times on the basketball court. At the end of the day, both wanted the same thing. Which was to come out victorious at whatever was in front of them.
After stumbling in the 2008 NBA Finals to the Boston Celtics. They had a mission to bring one back to Los Angeles. That is exactly what they did in 2009 when they defeated the Orlando Magic. They went back-to-back in 2010 when they got the rematch with the Boston Celtics and beat them in 7 games on the home floor 83-79 in a low-scoring battle.
They had one of the most precise and efficient pick and rolls in the game. Gasol became a double-double machine playing alongside Bryant. Pau never truly got the respect he deserved for how important he was to those teams.
NBA NEWS: Pau Gasol, Kobe Bryant & Los Angeles Lakers Updates
Kobe would be the first one to tell you that those championships don’t happen without Pau. Bryant said in a 2018 interview, “The reality is I wouldn’t win those two championships without Pau. L.A. wouldn’t have those two championships without Pau Gasol. We know that. Everybody knows that. I really look forward to the day when he is there giving his speech at the center of the court in front of all the fans who have supported him over the years. It’s going to be an awesome night.”
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