Los Angeles Lakers legend Pau Gasol was selected to be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2023. Each inductee must choose someone to present them at the ceremony itself and Gasol has selected another international icon in former Chicago Bulls forward Toni Kukoc.
Kukoc was one of the first international players to make the leap over to the NBA, having won three EuroLeague Championships and three EuroLeague Final Four MVPs before joining the Chicago Bulls in 1994. He would help the Bulls win three straight NBA Championships from 1996-98 and was the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year in 1996.
It was players like Kukoc, Drazen Petrovic and Arvydas Sabonis who laid the foundation for someone like Gasol to be able to come over to the NBA and find great success. Like Kukoc, Gasol had success overseas before being drafted to the NBA, winning a paid of Liga ACB Championships for FC Barcelona in his native Spain.
Gasol would immediately make a splash in the NBA, winning Rookie of the Year in 2002 and making his first All-Star Team in 2006. But it was his trade to the Lakers in 2008 when everything changed as he was paired up with Kobe Bryant and the two would form an unbreakable bond.
Gasol was the perfect partner for Kobe and he would help lead the Lakers to three consecutive NBA Finals and back-to-back NBA Championships in 2009 and 2010. His performance in Game 7 of the 2010 NBA Finals in which he totaled 19 points, 18 rebounds, four assists and two blocks to help the Lakers defeat the Boston Celtics was the stuff of legend.
He would go on to become one of the most beloved members of the Lakers not only because of his skill on the court, but his professionalism and attitude off of it. Despite finishing his career elsewhere, the Lakers would honor Gasol by retiring his number 16 in the rafters of the Crypto.com Arena in 2023.
Other inductees in the class of 2023 include Dwyane Wade who will be presented by Allen Iverson, Dirk Nowitzki who will be presented by Jason Kidd and Steve Nash and Becky Hammon who will be presented by Teresa Weatherspoon and Sheryl Swoopes, respectively.
Additionally, the San Antonio Spurs will be well represented as Manu Ginobil and Tim Duncan will be pulling double duty, presenting both point guard Tony Parker as well as head coach Gregg Popovich, where they will be joined by Parker and David Robinson.
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