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2-time NBA champion and 3 time-Olympic medallist for Spain, Pau Gasol is reportedly close to announcing his retirement from the NBA.
Gasol, now 41, who began his playing career back in 1998, announced his retirement from international basketball after the 2021 Tokyo Olympics from where Spain failed to come back home with a medal. Gasol joined the 2001 NBA draft where he was picked 3rd overall after spending three seasons with FC Barcelona in the Spanish League.
The news was initially broken by Spanish reporter Lucas Saez-Bravo, who has claimed that the press conference that Pau Gasol has scheduled for next Tuesday will include the retirement announcement as well.
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NBA legend Pau Gasol expected to announce retirement next week
Pau Gasol has been reported to be close to announcing his retirement, with multiple other sources reporting the news in the past few hours. No official confirmation for the same has been released until now. The 6-time All-Star has enjoyed a decorated career in which he featured for 6 NBA teams.
Gasol was picked 3rd overall by the Atlanta Hawks in the 2002 NBA draft and was traded to the Memphis Grizzlies immediately. He played for the Grizzlies until the 2007-08 season when he was traded to the LA Lakers in a deal that sent his younger brother Marc Gasol the opposite direction.
The impending announcement means that the most high-profile brother-pair in the NBA will no longer be active, with Marc Gasol hoping to win his second NBA championship overall, and his first with the LA Lakers next season. His elder brother can eventually be expected to be inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame. He has not played in the NBA since 2019.
In addition to his most successful stint with the LA Lakers, Pau Gasol has also played for the Chicago Bulls and the San Antonio Spurs before his move to the Milwaukee Bucks. For the Bucks, Gasol featured in just three games off the bench. The move was not well-suited and Pau had initially expressed desire to play for the LA Lakers again as he wanted to be on the same team as his brother.
He announced his return to FC Barcelona in February 2021 and helped them to the Spanish Championship. While the retirement announcement has not been confirmed, recent reports suggest that the NBA has already seen the last of Pau Gasol.
