Los Angeles Lakers: 10 Greatest centers in Lakers history
By Ed Schrenzel
No. 5: Pau Gasol
After Bynum went down with a knee injury in January 2008, it appeared that the Lakers promising season was about to crash and burn. But in one of his finest moments in the club’s front office, Mitch Kupchak engineered a remarkable trade with Memphis in which he acquired Gasol for Kwame Brown and a handful of young players and draft picks.
At the time it looked like Kupchak had totally fleeced the Grizzlies. But in hindsight, the trade was much more even than it first appeared because of the emergence of one player that Memphis received: Pau’s brother Marc Gasol, who went on to become a multi-year All-Star center.
Pau Gasol replaced Bynum in the Lakers lineup and helped propel them to the Finals that spring, and to back-to-back championships the following two seasons. During those 2 ½ seasons he averaged 18.6 points, nearly 10 rebounds and 3.5 assists a game.
Gasol established strong relationships with both Bryant and Odom. He was one of the league’s most consistent and versatile big men and was equally adept playing center alongside Odom or power forward when Bynum came back. He was also extremely well-suited for Phil Jackson’s triangle offense.
In his 6 ½ years with the Lakers, Gasol averaged 17.7 points, just under 10 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game. Bryant has stated that in his opinion, the next Lakers jersey to be retired will be Gasol’s No. 16. Since there are 10 LA Laker jerseys hanging from the rafters at Staples Center, that would mean Gasol was one of the 11 best players since the team moved to LA.