Pau Gasol Pays Tribute To Kobe Bryant During Retirement Announcement: "I Would Very Much Like Him To Be Here But Life Is Sometimes Very Unfair."

via Sporting News

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Pau Gasol is a multiple-time All-Star who helped the Los Angeles Lakers win two titles in 2009 and 2010. He is a legend for the purple and gold, and most Lakers fans who watched him play have only good things to say about him.

Recently, Pau Gasol has officially announced that his retirement from basketball. There is no doubt that he will be a Hall of Famer in the future, and he has certainly had an amazing career.

During his retirement ceremony, Pau Gasol took a moment to pay tribute to his former teammate and friend, Kobe Bryant. Gasol lamented that "life is sometimes very unfair" and stated that he'd "very much like" for Bryant to be at the ceremony. There is no doubt that the two had a bond on and off the court, and one can easily see from the video that Gasol gets extremely emotional when talking about his friend and what he taught him.

There was once a debate about whether the Los Angeles Lakers should retire Pau Gasol's jersey. Kobe Bryant notably said that "there's no debating" about that, and stated that Gasol "will have his number in the rafters next to mine". Most reasonable fans would agree with Bryant's sentiment.

There’s no debating. Pau, when he retires, he will have his number in the rafters next to mine. The reality is, I don’t win those championships without Pau. The city of LA doesn’t have those two championships without Pau Gasol. We know that, everybody knows that. I really look forward to the day when he’s there giving his speech at center court in front of all the fans who have supported him over the years. It's gonna be an awesome night.

There's no question that Gasol deserves a jersey retirement from the Los Angeles Lakers, and Kobe Bryant knew that. It has recently been announced that the Los Angeles Lakers will retire Pau Gasol's number 16 jersey. In response to a post about the retirement by ESPN Los Angeles, governor Jeanie Buss stated that "it was never a matter of if" the Lakers ended up retiring Gasol's jersey but rather about "when" specifically that happened. Buss also congratulated Pau Gasol about his retirement.

Pau Gasol is one of the greatest teammates Kobe Bryant has had, and there is no doubt that converse is true as well. Kobe Bryant clearly left a lasting mark on his loved ones, including Gasol. His memory will live on forever.

Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol will forever be entrenched in history as a title-winning duo. They won back to back, and Gasol was a co-star that earned Bryant's respect and admiration over the course of their time on the Los Angeles Lakers. It's certainly not the same for the basketball world as a whole and Gasol himself without Kobe Bryant.