#16 Pau Gasol

On Feb. 1, 2008, the Lakers acquired Pau Gasol and a second round pick from the Memphis Grizzlies for Kwame Brown, Javaris Crittenton, Aaron McKie, the draft rights to Marc Gasol and two future first round picks.

The Lakers promptly made it to the next three NBA Finals, and won championships for the franchise in both 2009 and 2010, as Gasol partnered almost perfectly with Kobe Bryant.

A six-time NBA All-Star (2006, 2009-2011, 2015, 2016) and three-time All-NBA pick (Second Team in 2011; Third Team in 2009 and 2010), Gasol boasts career averages of 17.0 points (50.7 percent field goals), 9.2 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.6 blocks and 0.5 steals with 2.2 turnovers in 33.4 minutes per game in his 17 NBA seasons.

A beloved teammate on and off the court, Gasol was the recipient of the 2011-12 J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award, and also the inaugural Kia Community Assist Award (2011-12) that recognized his outstanding efforts in the community, plus his ongoing charitable work.

A native of Barcelona, Gasol was also perhaps the most important player ever for the Spanish National Team, and was named the 2008, 2009 and 2010 European Player of the Year by La Gazzetta dello Sport. Inspired by watching the Dream Team in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, Gasol led Spain to the 2006 FIBA World Championships Gold Medal as MVP. He also captained Spain to silver medals in the 2008 Beijing and 2012 London Olympic games, losing to Kobe’s Team USA. Spain also captured its first ever European gold medal at the 2009 Eurobasket championships, where Gasol was again named MVP; they won again in 2011.

In the NBA, Gasol earned Western Conference Player of the Month honors for February of 2009, and was a 7-time Western Conference Player of the Week recipient. The 2002 NBA Rookie of the Year (3rd overall pick) and All-Rookie First Team member was the 4th player in history to go straight from Europe to the NBA and score 10,000 points.

The Spaniard was the 6th fastest player (among players who debuted since 1973, the first season of recorded blocked shots)) to record 13,000 points, 6,000 rebounds, 2,000 assists and 1,000 blocks. Gasol had seven career regular season triple-doubles and 371 double-doubles.

His No. 16 will be the 13th retired jersey by the Los Angeles Lakers.