Remembering Kobe Bryant's amazing complements to Pau Gasol

Kobe Bryant is not only one of the greatest players in Lakers history, but he is also one of the greatest athletes ever. He ended up winning five NBA championships with the Lakers, two of them were along side Pau Gasol. Now with the announcement that the Purples and Gold are going to retire the Spanish player #16, some videos of Kobe Bryant complementing his former player have come back to life.

As a Laker, Gasol averaged 17.7 points, 9.9 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.4 blocks while shooting 52.2% in 35.7 minutes across 429 games. They acquired him from Memphis on Feb. 1, 2008, along with a second-round pick. During his six and a half years with the Los Angeles Lakers, he earned three All-NBA nods and three All-Star honors. He also helped the team win their back-to-back championships in 2009-10, and were close to winning a third one in 2008, but they lost against the Celtics in 2008.

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During his time as a Laker, Pau Gasol earned Kobe Bryant’s respect. But even before that, he knew that Gasol could help him to win a championship and when the Spanish got traded, Kobe gave his reaction to his new teammate, “I play with him several All-star games, I think he is truly versatile, has a high basketball IQ, can pass, can shoot, length, catch, finish, he’s truly talented.”  Explained the All-star player.

Kobe Bryant also predicted that the Lakers would end up retiring Pau Gasol’s jersey, during a video after the former Laker had won his Oscar in 2018, “When he retires, he will have his jersey on a raft next to mine. The reality is, I didn’t win those championships with  Pau. The city of the Lake doesn’t have those two championships without Pau. We know that everyone knows that and I really look forward to the day he is up there giving his speech at Center Court in front of all the fans that supported him over the years. It’s going to be an awesome night.

Will the NBA retire either Kobe number?

The NBA just decided to retire No.6 from all NBA teams. This as a tribute to Bill Russell, on of the greatest players in NBA history. This honour had never happened for a NBA player. Russell join Jackie Robinson and Wayne Gretzky as athletes that have their numbers retired in to all teams in their respective leagues. Now the question has come to whether if the NBA will retire either No.8 or No.24 in honour of Kobe Bryant.