- Darvin Ham and Rob Pelinka have had multiple meetings with Russell Westbrook, imploring him to be defense-1st player
- 3 reasons the Lakers should stay far away from Kyrie Irving
- Report: Lakers make trade for 2nd-round pick in 2022 NBA Draft
- Brian Windhorst says Kyrie Irving joining Lakers for mid-level exception can’t be ruled out
- Western Conference executive says ‘most likely scenario’ is Russell Westbrook going back to OKC Thunder
- Report: Kyrie Irving has had ‘recent contact’ with LeBron James to ‘presumably discuss a potential reunion’
- Report: Lakers considered ‘most significant’ threat to land Kyrie Irving
- Report: Lakers, Celtics and Suns among teams expected to show ‘strong’ interest in Nicolas Batum
- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on the best hot dog topping: ‘The tears of the 1985 Celtics when they lost to the Lakers in the Finals’
- Report: Lakers expected to bring back Stanley Johnson for 2022-23 season
Vanessa and Kobe Bryant’s children seen adorably playing with Pau Gasol and Rob Pelinka at Lakers facility
- Updated: November 21, 2021

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.
View this post on Instagram
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.