Spanish NBA great Pau Gasol announces retirement from basketball
Wishing his "older brother" Kobe Bryant could be there by his side, Pau Gasol finally put an end to a basketball career that went "way beyond my dreams and expectations."
Gasol announced his retirement from basketball on Tuesday after a career that lasted more than two decades and earned him two NBA titles and a world championship gold with Spain's national team.
Gasol had already announced his farewell from international basketball in August after Spain lost to the United States in the quarterfinals of the Tokyo Games, which marked his fifth Olympics.
Gasol had been with Spanish club Barcelona since February. His career had stalled before that because a left-foot injury that lingered and kept him from playing for nearly two years.
Gasol won two NBA titles with the Lakers, in 2009 and 2010, and averaged 17 points and 9.2 rebounds in 1,226 regular-season games with five NBA teams, playing as a center and power forward. His other teams were 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.
