Lakers Legend and Spain Hero Pau Gasol announces retirement from Basketball

Lakers Legend and Spain Hero Pau Gasol announces retirement from Basketball playing career on Tuesday, October 5th.

Gasol won two NBA Championship with Los Angeles Lakers in 2009 & 2010 as part of Kobe Bryant led Lakers team. Also he was named in NBA All-Star team six times.

“Pau Gasol brought hope and talent to the Lakers,” former coach Phil Jackson said in a statement to ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne. “The effect was immediate. His game put LA back into championship contention. He was also a gentleman and generous hero.”

Gasol also played for Spanish National team, where he led the team to three Olympic Medals along with one World Championship.

Gasol had been with Spanish club Barcelona since February. His career had stalled before that because a stress fracture in his left foot that lingered and kept him from playing for nearly two years.

“I’m going to retire from professional basketball,” Gasol said. “It’s a difficult decision after so many years, but it’s a decision that I really thought over.”

Gasol averaged 17.0 points and 9.2 rebounds in 1,226 regular-season games with five NBA teams, including the Memphis Grizzlies, Chicago Bulls, San Antonio Spurs and Milwaukee Bucks. He was the No. 3 pick in the 2001 NBA draft, being selected by Atlanta and traded to Memphis.

Gasol last played in the NBA with the Bucks in 2019. He signed with the Portland Trail Blazers that year but never got to play.

Gasol won a world championship title with Spain in 2006, in addition to European titles in 2009, 2011 and 2015.

He helped Spain win Olympic silver medals in 2008 in Beijing and 2012 in London, as well as a bronze in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver released an official statement on Pau Gasol retirement