Lakers rumors: Pau Gasol is open to a reunion with the Los Angeles Lakers
You cannot tell the history of Kobe Bryant, or the Los Angeles Lakers, for that matter, without mentioning Pau Gasol. While he was not the best player on a title-winning team, he was an important player that led to Kobe’s fourth and fifth championships and the Lakers’ 15th and 16th.
It was trading for Gasol that kickstarted the Lakers’ title efforts in the 2007-08 season, which culminated in the team winning back to back NBA Championships in 2009 and 2010. Gasol will forever be a legend to Laker fans because of what he contributed and there is a legitimate case that the team should retire his jersey.
They should not think about retiring it anytime soon, though, as the latest Lakers rumors indicate that we could see Gasol don the purple and gold one last time.
Gasol called returning to the Lakers an “attractive” option to finish his NBA career, with the other intriguing possibility being to finish his career in Europe for a club such as Barcelona (h/t Tales Azzoni, AP News).
This might seem like a non-story as Gasol is no longer a really productive player at the NBA level and did not play in the 2019-20 season and only played 30 games the year prior.
Despite not playing in a single game this season, the Lakers could actually have some value in bringing Gasol in for one last victory lap with the team next season, perhaps getting a chance to win championship number three, all with the Los Angeles Lakers.
He would not be a big difference-maker, especially in the box score, let’s not pretend like he would be. However, there are three primary reasons that make Gasol potentially returning make sense.