Pau Gasol Makes Hall Of Fame, Play-In Race,

  Pau Gasol Makes Hall Of Fame, Play-In Race. 

           

Longtime Los Angeles Lakers great Pau Gasol, the big man whose trade ushered in three straight NBA Finals appearances (and two wins), is en route to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. That was the highlight of another news-packed day for LA fans. We got some discouraging news about injury-prone All-Star LeBron James' latest ailment and some fascinating Patrick Beverley anecdotes about his tenure with the Lake Show.

 

 Pau Gasol Has Been Voted Into Basketball Hall Of Fame

The LA legend will join his championship comrades Kobe Bryant and Phil Jackson in Springfield.

Two-time Los Angeles Lakers champion Pau Gasol has reportedly been named to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

The seven-footer, a six-time All-Star and four-time All-NBA inclusion, was one of the two best players on Lakers clubs that went to three straight NBA Finals from 2008-10, winning the last two. He also was the best player on two silver medalist men's basketball Olympic teams, clubs that put up a mighty fight against deeper, more talented U.S. clubs.

It was first revealed in February that Gasol was a finalist for this honor. Given his standing as one of the NBA's great international success stories, his championship pedigree, and his insane longevity, it was a no-brainer that he would be selected as a first-ballot Hall of Famer.

2023 has been a big year for the retired power forward/center. Earlier this month, Gasol saw his No. 16 Lakers jersey get hung into Crypto.com Arena's rafters, where it would join a bevy of other LA luminaries. Of course, there was no question which jerseys it would directly neighbor: fallen comrade Kobe Bryant's No. 8 and No. 24 jerseys, both long since retired.

Former Miami Heat shooting guard Dwyane Wade, ex-Dallas Mavericks power forward Dirk Nowitzki, current Spurs head coach/GM Gregg Popovich, and Gasol's fellow 2001 draftee Tony Parker, another Spurs legend, all also made the Hall of Fame cut, as did multi-time WNBA All-Star Becky Hammon (a former Spurs assistant coach and now a championship-winning head coach for the star-studded Las Vegas Aces).