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Well deserved, too bad Kobe couldn’t be here for it.

Slava wrote:Well deserved, too bad Kobe couldn’t be here for it.

Bulls fan, he was a class act his whole career. He was very well liked as a Bull & incredibly popular in Spain. He did so much for Spanish BBall & society. Just a great human being. Enjoy your retirement Pau.

I love Pau - one of the more beautiful basketball players I ever watched. I'll never forget how I felt the day he was traded to us. I actually felt like we were going to win titles again and Kobe would win Championships again wearing a Laker jersey. If Pau wasn't traded to us, I'm not sure Kobe finishes his career or his prime as a Laker. He was already convincing himself to stay because of Bynum's emergence but the Pau Gasol deal was the thing that truly brought him back on board. And I became a fan of basketball because of Kobe in 2003. So for him to bring that hope again and be one of the reasons why Kobe stayed a Laker meant a lot.

Game 7 in the 2010 Finals I'll never forget. Pau's performance was legendary stuff especially coming off the 2008 loss. You could make a real argument that he deserved Finals MVP over Kobe.

Thank you Pau - I'm certainly going to try to make my way down to Los Angeles to be there when his jersey goes in the rafters. It's an absolute gut punch that Kobe won't be there for it.

Well deserved. Thanks Pau!

Thanks, Pau! Well earned. The proof of the legacy will hang up high in the rafters for all to see for a long, long time. Thanks for the two championships.

If we have sent a camp deal to Pau and play him a few games in this preseason for fans to farewell him, that would be perfect.

The honor to have his jersey retired is well deserved. Best of luck to the post retirement life, Pau.

Props to Pau!

Pay Gasol will always be remembered by me as one the Lakers greatest class acts. Multiple time champion and always a Laker in legacy. Can't wait to see the ceremony and to see his name up in the rafters. I was one of the few who said "when" and not "if". Congrats Pau!

One of the best to ever put on a Lakers jersey. Just all around a great player.

I still remember the awesomeness of that trade news breaking.

Kobe and Pau had met in Barcelona while Kobe was on vacation the summer before, to commiserate about each others' situations but we always felt there was nothing of value to trade and a team like Phoenix could easily beat our best offer. The season began and Bynum broke out, so there was amazing optimism with the team at the top of the West standings for a while and while a trade was on the back burner, it felt like we legit had a chip with people debating whether to build on Bynum or trade him while his value was high to maximise Kobe's prime. Then Bynum went down and **** looked gloomy again with the team dropping down the standings to the middle of the pack.

A poster on the Grizzlies forum showed up and claimed that Memphis was in full cost cutting mode and there were going to be a lot of pissed off fans in a week if what is being rumoured, actually goes down. This was back in the day before twitter and everyone who claimed they were "IN THE KNOW" were being slammed left and right and called a fraud immediately. Then, I remember coming back from morning class, opening up RealGM for the day and there is a sticky thread on the top of the Lakers forum confirming that the deal is done, the Lakers got Pau and the kicker was that they did not have to trade either Odom or Bynum.

There was still pessimism that the triangle offense would be too much to pick up in the middle of the season and the team was at best a 2nd round exit in the playoffs, but Pau played his first game in New Jersey and looked like he had been running those high and mid post sets for ages and it began to sink in that we might actually be sitting on a contender. Man, it was a wild ride.

True Story.
When interviewed by ESPN, about the Big Trade Move in the Lakers acquiring Pau Gasol. Wilbon asked Phil Jackson, "Phil, what was your response to Mitch when he told you, that Pau was going to be a Laker?
Phil's response: No, I dont think your allowed to do that.
Immediately Wilbon and his buddy broke out Laughing

Cant wait see with Kobe’s