- Joined
- May 8, 2002
- Posts
- 1,231,218
- Reaction score
- 59
Through the 2024-25 season, the Los Angeles Lakers have had a total of 506 players suit up for them, going back to their days in Minneapolis. Some were forgettable, some were serviceable, some were good and a select few were flat-out legendary.
During the Lakers' 80th season of existence (they were founded back in 1946 as the Detroit Gems in the National Basketball League), LeBron Wire is taking a look at each player who has worn their jersey, whether it has been a purple and gold one or the ones they donned back in the Midwest during their early years.
Pau Gasol was already a star during his first six seasons in the NBA, all of which he spent with the Memphis Grizzlies. But when he was traded to the Lakers midway through the 2007-08 season, his seventh in the league, his status rose significantly.
At the time, the Lakers were coming off three frustrating and barely mediocre campaigns in which they had missed the playoffs once and lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Phoenix Suns twice. Kobe Bryant demanded a trade in the summer of 2007, and at the time, it looked like the beginning of the end of his time with the team.
But Gasol's arrival changed everything for Bryant and the franchise. Starting that very season Gasol came on board, Los Angeles made the first of three straight NBA Finals appearances and won back-to-back world championships in 2009 and 2010. The 2010 title was won over the Boston Celtics, which avenged a rough loss to Boston in the 2008 championship series.
Gasol played with plenty of passion during those title runs, and in his time with the Lakers, he averaged 17.7 points on 52.2% field-goal shooting, 9.9 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.4 blocks per game. He left as a free agent in 2014 to join the Chicago Bulls, and after stints with the Bulls, San Antonio Spurs and Milwaukee Bucks, Gasol's NBA career ended in 2019.
In 2021, Gasol spent some time with FC Barcelona in the Liga ACB, a pro basketball league in Spain, where he won a league championship that year. But although his overall international career was pretty stellar, he's most remembered for his time with the Purple and Gold.
That fortunate trade on Feb. 1, 2008 that sent him to Los Angeles was likely the trigger for him to put together an NBA career that ended up putting him in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Lakers jersey history No. 16: Pau Gasol
Continue reading...
During the Lakers' 80th season of existence (they were founded back in 1946 as the Detroit Gems in the National Basketball League), LeBron Wire is taking a look at each player who has worn their jersey, whether it has been a purple and gold one or the ones they donned back in the Midwest during their early years.
Pau Gasol was already a star during his first six seasons in the NBA, all of which he spent with the Memphis Grizzlies. But when he was traded to the Lakers midway through the 2007-08 season, his seventh in the league, his status rose significantly.
At the time, the Lakers were coming off three frustrating and barely mediocre campaigns in which they had missed the playoffs once and lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Phoenix Suns twice. Kobe Bryant demanded a trade in the summer of 2007, and at the time, it looked like the beginning of the end of his time with the team.
But Gasol's arrival changed everything for Bryant and the franchise. Starting that very season Gasol came on board, Los Angeles made the first of three straight NBA Finals appearances and won back-to-back world championships in 2009 and 2010. The 2010 title was won over the Boston Celtics, which avenged a rough loss to Boston in the 2008 championship series.
Gasol played with plenty of passion during those title runs, and in his time with the Lakers, he averaged 17.7 points on 52.2% field-goal shooting, 9.9 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.4 blocks per game. He left as a free agent in 2014 to join the Chicago Bulls, and after stints with the Bulls, San Antonio Spurs and Milwaukee Bucks, Gasol's NBA career ended in 2019.
In 2021, Gasol spent some time with FC Barcelona in the Liga ACB, a pro basketball league in Spain, where he won a league championship that year. But although his overall international career was pretty stellar, he's most remembered for his time with the Purple and Gold.
That fortunate trade on Feb. 1, 2008 that sent him to Los Angeles was likely the trigger for him to put together an NBA career that ended up putting him in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Lakers jersey history No. 16: Pau Gasol
Continue reading...
