Los Angeles Lakers power forward/center Pau Gasol, a likely first-ballot Hall of Famer this year, saw his No. 16 jersey join the other LA immortals in the rafters of Crypto.com Arena last night.
Several LA comrades of Gasol's contributed messages commending the accomplishment.
Gasol's Lakers-era head coach Phil Jackson shared a pre-taped missive to the six-time All-Star.
"Pau Gasol! Congratulations on this evening, you certainly deserve the award," Jackson said. "Your coming to the Lakers midseason was a breath of fresh air for our team. I think we led the league in scoring that year, simply because of the offensive prowess that you gave our team. I remember the first game we played in Washington. At the timeout, Kobe came to the bench and said, 'We got a big guy that can run, catch the ball, and play with us.' And you certainly could do that."
"You found the offensive system easy to learn, and you functioned in it both low post and pinch post very well. I want to congratulate you on a great career, but also the years you led the Lakers to championship-level play," Jackson noted.
Derek Fisher, the Lakers' starting point guard during the Gasol era, also offered up a special pre-taped message.
"Congratulations, of course, on this amazing honor tonight," Fisher said. "Your jersey going up in the rafters here at Crypto.com Arena [is] so deserving, in terms of your accomplishments on the court. You'll be one of the greatest basketball players this organization's ever seen that's why your jersey's going up. But you're also one of the greatest human beings we've all ever gotten the chance to experience and be around. And for me to call you a teammate, a brother, a friend, a champion, it's a blessing. So congratulations to you. I can't believe it's been 15 years since we first joined forces in 2008."
Six-time MVP Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who won five of his six champsionships with LA in the 1980s, also pre-taped a video message. He was an assistant coach on those Lakers teams.
"Hey Pau, this is your old coach wanting to tell you felicidades on having your number retired by the Lakers," Abdul-Jabbar said. "I think it's quite appropriate. You enabled me to say I coached somebody to two world championships. and it was the easiest job I ever had, Pau, because you didn't have any faults that I had to try to correct. It was a pleasure working with you and getting to know you, and getting to know your family. So enjoy the benefits of being one of the Laker greats."
Abdul-Jabbar's Showtime co-star, Hall of Fame point guard Magic Johnson, also offered up his heartiest congrats. At the time, Johnson was a partial owner of the team.
"Pau, congratulations on your jersey being retired," Johnson said. "When we made that trade for you, and we won back-to-back championships, you were the key member of that team. And now your jersey is going to be hanging right next to your friend Kobe Bryant."
Gasol teammates Metta Sandiford-Artest and Sasha Vujacic also contributed pre-taped video messages, viewable in that embedded link above.
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