The Lakers retired Pau Gasol's jersey

But, why is it also raining inside? Always this same emotion when a jersey goes up to the ceiling of an NBA enclosure. The flocking loaded with a story recited a few meters below, by the protagonists having experienced it up close. Pau Gasol’s turn to tell his story. Moment out of time. It’s always good to remember « why we play ».

Barely ten minutes of speech. The sobriety of the player. Never overflow. The words pass a phone call, the emotion answers them. “I can’t go on without talking about the person and the face that I don’t see tonight”. It was at this precise moment that everything became complicated. A direct thought for Kobe Bryant, who – in the most perfect of worlds – would have attended the ceremony from the front row. “The brother who raised, inspired and challenged me to become a better player and a better man. I miss him so much. I miss him so much like so many of us. I love him, and I wish he was here with Gigi. But I think he would be proud, and I know he’s been really waiting for this moment. I love you, my brother “. The only way to separate Pau Gasol and Kobe Bryant, was ultimately that something bad happened to one of them. Two players fraternized by the “passage” of one in the franchise of the other. The Spaniard has played 522 games for the Lakers : not much less without Kobe Bryant by his side. This tribute of about twenty seconds was the piece of the ceremony that everyone was waiting for. A ceremony which was to retain the character of a jersey rise, namely centered on the protagonist of the evening. Therefore, it is difficult to borrow four or five minutes to celebrate Kobe Bryant. Pau Gasol is a modest man. His emotion when expressing a thought for the Black Mamba does not deceive anyone. He keeps a lot inside of him.

“When Pau retires, he will have his number in the rafters next to mine. I look forward to the day when he delivers his speech from the center of the pitch in front of all the fans who have supported him over the years. It will be an extraordinary evening. –Kobe Bryant, in 2018

All the fans present at the Staples Center for this reception of the Grizzlies had a Pau Gasol jersey on their seat. Even Jimmy Butler, his teammate from 2014 to 2016 in Chicago. Probably the « replica » to the lifespan of three slightly loaded machines, but the gesture remains beautiful. Not every night that the physical store gives up on a big opportunity marketing. An average spectator comes to attend the meeting, remembers the Pau Gasol years during his speech and cracks a PEL at the exit. That’s how it normally works. For once, 20,000 backs will leave the enclosure covered by the same flocking. Two Spanish-sounding words. Clothing prohibited in the streets of Villeneuve D’Ascq.