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MADRID – Pau Gasol announced his retirement from basketball on Tuesday, ending a career that spanned more than two decades and earned him two NBA titles and a world championship gold with the Spanish national team.
The 41-year-old had already bid farewell to international basketball in August after Spain lost to the United States in the quarter-finals of the Tokyo Games, which marked its fifth Olympics.
Gasol had been with Spanish club Barcelona since February. His career was at a standstill before that due to a stress fracture in his left foot which persisted and kept him from playing for almost two years.
“I’m going to retire from professional basketball,” Gasol said. “It’s a tough decision after so many years, but it’s a decision I’ve really thought about.”
A hero in Los Angeles. A legend of the hoop around the world.
Congratulations on your retirement, Pau. pic.twitter.com/ODzWHXgq94
– Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) October 5, 2021
The retirement announcement was made during an event held at a Barcelona opera house attended by former teammates and family members, including Pau Gasol’s wife, young daughter and brother Marc.
Gasol won two NBA titles with the Los Angeles Lakers, in 2009 and 2010, playing a pivotal role in back-to-back championships.
“Pau Gasol brought hope and talent to the Lakers,” former coach Phil Jackson said in a statement to ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne. “The effect was immediate. His game put LA back in the championship race. He was also a generous gentleman and hero.”
Gasol averaged 17.0 points and 9.2 rebounds in 1,226 regular season games with five NBA teams, including the Memphis Grizzlies, Chicago Bulls, San Antonio Spurs and Milwaukee Bucks. He was the third pick in the 2001 NBA Draft, selected by Atlanta and traded to Memphis.
Gasol last played in the NBA with the Bucks in 2019. He signed with the Portland Trail Blazers that year but never got to play.
Gasol won a world title with Spain in 2006, in addition to European titles in 2009, 2011 and 2015.
He helped Spain win Olympic silver medals in 2008 in Beijing and 2012 in London, as well as a bronze medal in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro.
Gasol recently won an election to represent athletes for the next seven years on the International Olympic Committee. He joined a roster of IOC members from royal families in Europe and the Middle East, international sporting bodies, business leaders and 12 athletes elected by their peers.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report
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