The Los Angeles Lakers’ training facility welcomed some special guests recently.
In an Instagram post, Vanessa Bryant showed her youngest daughters, Bianka and Capri, playing with retired Lakers legend Pau Gasol and general manager Rob Pelinka inside the facility.
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Gasol spent six full seasons in L.A., and along with the late Kobe Bryant, helped the franchise win two championships. In the process, the pair established a close friendship that lasted until Kobe Bryant’s untimely death in 2020.
No one was hit harder by the tragedy than Vanessa Bryant and her surviving children. The Bryant couple’s second daughter, Gianna, also passed away in the helicopter accident. Since then, Gasol has made sure to spend time with Kobe Bryant’s family. Last year, he was also seen playing with his late friend’s daughters.
Last month, Gasol announced his retirement from professional basketball.
The Spanish big man entered the NBA in 2001 after being selected by the Atlanta Hawks with the No. 3 pick in that year’s draft. His rights were then traded to the Memphis Grizzlies.
It did not take long for Gasol to make a name for himself in the league. He claimed the 2002 Rookie of the Year award, becoming the first foreign player to win it. The 7-foot-1 was then named to his first All-Star team in 2006.
Gasol’s career took a turn for the better when the Lakers acquired him midway through the 2007-08 season. They reached the 2008 NBA Finals where the team lost to the Boston Celtics in six games. But the Purple and Gold took the next two championships, thanks in part to the heroics of Kobe Bryant and Gasol.
The franchise will retire Gasol’s Lakers jersey.
