Why Marc Gasol Had ‘G.N.G.’ Engraved on His Raptors Title Ring

Marc Gasol never wanted to leave Memphis.

He was the soul of the Memphis Grizzlies’ grit-and-grind identity, a franchise cornerstone who embraced the city alongside Zach Randolph and Tony Allen. But when the team finally pivoted toward a rebuild in the mid-2010s, Gasol knew the writing was on the wall. By the time 2019 rolled around, he understood a trade was coming.

On Feb. 7, 2019, it came.

Memphis sent Gasol to the Toronto Raptors in a deal that would prove to be one of the most important mid-season trades for a championship team in league history.

“It broke my heart a little bit, to be honest,” Gasol told Randolph and Allen on the Out The Mud podcast. “Like, if it was up to me, I would have stayed at Memphis my whole career. And even though it probably would have meant that I would’ve never got a championship, I would have stayed in Memphis for sure.”

Gasol brought that Memphis toughness to Toronto, proving to be a critical defensive cog in the Raptors’ 2019 title run. He shut down Nikola Vucevic in the first round, smothered Joel Embiid in the second, and helped Toronto survive Milwaukee before outlasting Golden State in the Finals.

All the while, he couldn’t stop thinking about his former Grizzlies teammates.

“You all were there at times,” Gasol said. “What would ZBo think about this? How would ZBo attack it? Like, I would try to get my ZBo moment a little bit, right? So in a way, y’all were there with me because, sh*t, who I am as a player is part of y’all too, because that’s how we built it.”

That legacy followed him all the way to the top. Gasol had G.N.G. engraved on his Raptors championship ring, a quiet tribute to the grit-and-grind Grizzlies who shaped the player he became.

He spent one more season in Toronto after the championship and was never quite the same after the league shut down for the COVID-19 pandemic. When he hit free agency that summer, the Raptors weren’t entirely sure what to do. The team was preparing to relocate to Tampa for the season and wanted to remain financially flexible in case Giannis Antetokounmpo hit the open market the following year.

“With me, they sort of like, not politicking, but like, playing the game a little bit. Like, yes, no, we’re not sure,” Gasol said. “I’m like, You know what? Don’t worry about it, I’m moving on.”

Gasol moved on to Los Angeles, where he spent one season with the Lakers before heading back to Spain to finish his professional career. Toronto, meanwhile, signed Aron Baynes in his place, a move that didn’t work out and ultimately nudged the franchise toward a new era of rebuilding.

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