Pau Gasol's '16' joins in the memory along with his 'brother' Kobe Bryant's '8' and '24'

MADRID, 8 Mar. (EUROPA PRESS) -

Former Spanish player Pau Gasol lived an emotional moment on Tuesday when the Los Angeles Lakers, a franchise in which he spent six seasons on average and with which he won two championship rings in 2009 and 2010, removed his shirt from their pavilion and put it next to the of eleven other legends, including that of his 'brother' Kobe Bryant.

The '16' that the man from Sant Boi wore between February 2008 and April 2014 and which was key for the Lakers to dominate the NBA again now hangs from the roof of the Los Angeles venue, at the time the Staples Center and now called Crypto. com Arena, and stood next to the '8' and the '24' of his great friend, who died in a helicopter accident in 2020, and next to the numbers of ten other former great myths of the franchise.

Accompanied by his entire family, friends, franchise executives, Vanessa Bryant, wife of the star guard, and other great players such as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, James Worthy, Byron Scott, Derek Fisher, Metta Sandiford-Artest or Jimmy Butler, with whom he shared a dressing room at Chicago Bullos, his next destination after leaving Los Angeles, Gasol received his well-deserved tribute before a crowd delivered during the break of the game against, precisely, the Memphis Grizzlies, the team where he began his brilliant career in the NBA and the one who was transferred to become a 'laker'.

The man from Sant Boi received a lot of love before, during and after the game. The crowd forgot for a moment what was happening on the track and stood up to chant his name enthusiastically when he made an appearance in the arena with his daughter Ellie Gianna.

At halftime, the big moment arrived, introduced by Vanessa Bryant through a video where she reminded the Spaniard that "Kobe predicted that you and he would be on these beams." "It is an honor for me to introduce my dear friend Pau tonight. Pau was special for Kobe as a partner, as a person and as a friend," Vanessa Bryant stressed before giving way to another video of her husband during the Oscars in 2018 where he assured that there was no "debate" about the withdrawal of his shirt and that neither he nor the city would have "those championships without Pau".

"And I really look forward to the day when he is giving his speech on the court in front of all the fans who have supported him over the years. It's going to be an incredible night," the guard already predicted.