Pau Gasol It’s already part of the history books. nba. The Spanish center, in a night that will remain in the memory of the greatest basketball competition in the world, gave an emotional speech from the center of the court of the old Staples Center, very moved, to see his ’16’ shirt hanging next to the ’24’ of his friend and ‘brother’ Kobe Bryantat the top of the Los Angeles Lakers pavilion.
The Catalan began his speech by thanking all the fans of the franchise before recalling the memory of his great friend Kobe: ”I am speechless, seeing all these faces here, everyone at home. I can only say thank you, you have made me feel very special and it has been an honor to wear this jersey, to play for this franchise,” he began.
“I can’t say goodbye without remembering the face and the person I don’t see here today, the brother who brought me here,” he said of Bryant. “I miss him terribly and I know he was waiting for this moment. I love him and I would have loved if he could have been here with Gigi. I love you brother“, promised him.
The dream of a little boy from Sant Boi who wanted to succeed in the NBA was a utopia, but it came true: ”As a child in Spain, I had a dream. He wanted me to become a basketball player and play in the NBA, but I never imagined, not in a million years, that a day like this could come. It’s a tremendous honor to be among these great individuals in this great franchise. So this shows that there are no limits to what you can do, what you can achieve, be the best version of yourself every day, like We all know the Mamba Mentality.”
Gasol did not want to forget the great moment that changed everything, the final against Boston in 2010: ”It seems like yesterday when we were here in that seventh game of 2010 against the Celtics. I will never forget that momentAnd I don’t think you either.
A united family is the greatest pillar you can have in life, and the Spaniard “blamed” them for all the success he achieved in the NBA: “I want to thank all my family, my parents, my brothers, for giving me all your support throughout my life and for loving me, I love you, I appreciate you. I am one of the luckiest men in the world, and one of the main reasons is because i married an amazing woman, my wife Catherine. I love you honey, thank you so much for these two children that I love so dearly.”
He also had a few words of thanks to the entire generation of Lakers who accompanied the Catalan center during his time in Los Angeles: ”This could not have happened without my other family, the Lakers family. Thank you Dr. Buss Jeanie for all you do you are amazing and I love you. Rob, brother, thanks for being here tonight. Thank you Mitch (Kupchak). Phil Jackson. Phil, you are unique. I know it and we all know it. Thank you for recommending reading to your players, for introducing me to the world of meditation. I love you to death.
And to the players with whom he shared a dressing room: “To my teammates, who are here. I can’t thank you enough. For adopting me, for making me improve… I hope you feel that a part of that shirt is yours, because it is. To the body technician and workers of the organization, thank you. You make possible what we do here on the track.”.
The Spaniard mentioned and thanked the great reception that he had throughout the city of Los Angeles when he signed for the Lakers and to all the media for the excellent work they did: ”To the city of Los Angeles and the Lakers nation, I love you deeply and forever. Thank you for making me feel so special, it has been an honor, truly. Thank you very much to all the Lakers fans, to the entire Hispanic community, from the bottom of my heart. To all the media, thank you very much for your work. Thanks to you we can reach millions of people. I join a unique group of players in the Lakers family, and I really appreciate and appreciate that.”
To end the speech, Pau Gasol revealed that he will try to do his bit so that the world evolve: ”To conclude, those who have been given much, much is expected of them. I will remain committed to impacting others, making a difference, inspiring others, helping and make this world a better placehealthier. I love you allthank you so much”.
