Lakers notch big win over Grizzlies to celebrate Pau Gasol’s jersey retirement

The Los Angeles Lakers are the highest that they have been in the Western Conference standings all season after celebrating Pau Gasol’s jersey retirement ceremony with a hard-fought 112-103 win over the Memphis Grizzlies.

At halftime, Gasol took to centre-court to watch on as a video taken at the 2018 Oscars of close friend Kobe Bryant played before a black curtain slowly lowered to unveil a gold #16 jersey to the right of Kobe Bryant’s #24 jersey in the Crypto.com Arena rafters.

“When [Gasol] retires, he will have his number in the rafters next to mine,” Bryant predicts in the video.

“The reality is, I don’t win those championships without Pau. The city of L.A. doesn’t have those two championships without Pau Gasol … Everybody knows that and I really look forward to the day when he’s standing there giving his speech at centre-court in front of all the fans.”

Teary-eyed and flanked by his parents, brothers, wife and children as well as the likes of Jeanie Buss, Rob Pelinka, Vanessa Bryant, Derek Fisher and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Gasol gave a rousing speech in front of 18,997 fans who had been handed out replicas of his jersey.

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“Thank you so much,” Gasol began.

“It’s been my honour to wear this jersey … But I can’t go on without talking about the person and the face that I don’t see – my brother that elevated me and inspired me, challenged me to be a better player, just to be a better man.

“I love him. I wish he was here with Gigi … I think he will be proud, and he was looking forward to this moment. I love you, brother.”

Gasol was traded from Memphis to Los Angeles midway through the 2007-08 season and helped lead the Lakers to the NBA Finals before being defeated by arch-rivals Boston in six games.

Over the summer, he competed against a Bryant-led Team USA at the Beijing Olympics where he earnt his nation a silver medal.

The following season, Gasol played 81 games for the Lakers averaging 18.9 ppg and 9.6 rpg en route to an All-NBA 3rd Team nod.

He would play a pivotal role in securing the franchise’s 15th NBA title with a 4-1 series win over the Orlando Magic in the 2009 NBA Finals.

The Lakers would meet Boston again in the Finals the following year, however, this time around, Gasol and the Lakers had the last laugh.

In one of the most famous Game 7s in NBA history, Gasol scored 19 points, pulled down a game-high 18 rebounds, and dished out four assists in nail-biting 83-79 win.

Forever etched in Lakers lore is the vision of Gasol screaming passionately after making a difficult turnaround over a triple-team to give the team a six-point lead with 90 seconds remaining.

The seven-foot Spaniard joins Bryant, Abdul-Jabbar, Wilt Chamberlain, Elgin Baylor, Gail Goodrich, Magic Johnson, Shaquille O’Neal, James Worthy, Jerry West, Jamaal Wilkes and George Mikan as the greats with their jerseys hanging in the rafters for the Lakers.

Current Lakers star Anthony Davis continued his tremendous play to carry the team to a win over Memphis finishing with 30 points and 22 rebounds on 11-of-17 shooting and a game-high +24.

Dennis Schröder put up 17 points, nine assists, and six rebounds for Los Angeles whilst Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura combined for 34 points and 10 rebounds off the bench.

The Lakers ended the game on a 24-9 run to close things out and grab their seventh win from 10 games despite missing LeBron James through injury.

They now find themselves ninth in the West and just two games back of the sixth seed with 16 games remaining.

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