NBA, Lakers celebrate Pau Gasol: bright eyes remembering Kobe Bryant

NBA night marked by Lakers’ withdrawal of Pau Gasol’s “16”

Not only basketball played on the NBA night between Tuesday and Wednesday. In fact, during the game between the Los Angeles Lakers and Memphis Grizzlies, the yellow-violet franchise celebrated one of the greats of the recent past, Pau Gasol, in the retirement ceremony of his number 16 jersey.

Emotional was the passage that the Catalan, in his speech, wanted to remember his “sporting brother” Kobe Bryant, who passed away in January 2020 in a tragic helicopter accident: “What you are giving me tonight exceeds every possible expectation – Pau Gasol said in front of the audience, with his eyes shining -. It has great significance that my jersey goes up next to Kobe’s, it is something beautiful and sad at the same time, it means so much.”

The Lakers then won the match against Memphis 112-103. In the night’s other games, KOs for both Paolo Banchero (20 points but Orlando defeated by Milwaukee 123-134) and Simone Fontecchio (6 points starting in the quintet, but Dallas beat Utah 120-116). Home win for Oklahoma City (137-128 vs. Golden State), outside successes for Washington (119-117 at Detroit), Charlotte (112-105 at home to Knicks), Philadelphia (117-94 vs. Minnesota), and Brooklyn (118-96 at Houston).