Pau Gasol announces retirement; Lakers' Jeanie Buss hints retiring No. 16
BARCELONA, SPAIN - OCTOBER 05: Pau Gasol shares a joke with his daughter Elisabet Gianna Gasol as he faces the media during a press conference to announce his retirement from basketball at El Liceu de Barcelona theater on October 05, 2021 in Barcelon
LOS ANGELES - A beloved former Los Angeles Laker is calling it quits.
On Tuesday, 2-time NBA champion and 6-time All-Star Pau Gasol announced his retirement from professional basketball. Following Tuesday's press conference, Gasol took to social media with the caption that read in-part, "Dear basketball, thank you for everything."
Gasol's social media caption was a nod to Kobe Bryant's short film, Dear Basketball. As Laker Nation fondly remembers, Bryant and Gasol helped bring two NBA championships back to Los Angeles (2009 and 2010).
In addition to the championships and trips to the NBA All-Star Game, Gasol was the 2001-2002 NBA Rookie of the year, a three-time Olympic medalist and was named in the All-NBA second team twice (2010-2011 and 2014-2015) and All-NBA third team twice (2008-2009 and 2009-2010).
WILL THE LAKERS RETIRE NO. 16?
What can we expect from the Lakers in terms of the team's plan to honor the beloved former big man?
Lakers CEO Jeanie Buss took to Twitter to hint the team may hang up No. 16 for good.
Buss responded to ESPN Los Angeles' social media graphic – which showed a mockup of Gasol's jersey number being retired – by revealing the Lakers will likely make that photoshopped tribute a reality.
"It was never a matter of IF we will retire #16 but WHEN," Buss tweeted, in part.
As of Tuesday night, neither Buss nor the Lakers announced when a Pau Gasol jersey retirement ceremony will take place.
Get your top stories delivered daily! Sign up for FOX 11’s Fast 5 newsletter. And, get breaking news alerts in the FOX 11 News app. Download for iOS or Android.
Tune in to FOX 11 Los Angeles for the latest Southern California news.