NBA

Lakers to Retire Pau Gasol's No. 16 on March 7

The Lakers will host the Grizzlies, Gasol's first NBA team, that night

Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images

No. 16 is heading into the rafters at Crypto.com Arena.

The Los Angeles Lakers announced on Wednesday that they will retire Pau Gasol’s number on March 7 when the team is scheduled to face the Memphis Grizzlies, Gasol’s first NBA team.

The Spanish center was traded from the Grizzlies to the Lakers on Feb. 1, 2008, for Kwame Brown, Javaris Crittenton, Aaron McKie, two first-round picks and the draft rights to Pau’s brother, Marc. The team reached the NBA Finals four months later before falling to the Boston Celtics in six games.

The Lakers proceeded to win back-to-back Finals in Gasol’s first two full seasons alongside Kobe Bryant and a supporting cast headlined by Lamar Odom, Ron Artest, Derek Fisher and Andrew Bynum. The 2009 Finals victory came against the Orlando Magic and the second came in seven games against the Celtics.

In all, Gasol averaged 17.7 points, 9.9 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game while earning three All-Star nods across six-plus seasons with the Lakers.

Gasol will be the 11th player to have his jersey number retired by the Lakers, joining Bryant, Wilt Chamberlain, Elgin Baylor, Gail Goodrich, Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Shaquille O’Neal, James Worthy, Jerry West and Jamaal Wilkes. Bryant had his No. 8 and No. 24 retired in a ceremony on Dec. 18, 2017, so Gasol’s No. 16 will actually be the 12th number the Lakers lift to the rafters. 

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