The Los Angeles Lakers announced Wednesday that they will retire the No. 16 Jersey of Pau Gasol during the home game against the Memphis Grizzlies at Crypto.com Arena on March 7, 2023. The Spanish giant expressed his gratitude on Twitter.

In about eight months, Gasol will join Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Shaquille O'Neal, Wilt Chamberlain, Kobe Bryant, Magic Johnson, Jerry West, Elgin Baylor, James Worthy, Gail Goodrich and Jamaal Wilkes to receive one of the top honors for an NBA player: Having his jersey hung above the floor at the arena of the team he has played for.

Gasol was traded to the Lakers by the Grizzlies in February 2008 for Kwame Brown, Javaris Crittenton, Aaron McKie, two future first-round draft picks (2008 and 2010) and the right to sign Pau's brother Marc Gasol. Back then, many thought the deal cost the purple and gold too little.

"What they did in Memphis is beyond comprehension," San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich told Sports Illustrated. "There should be a trade committee that can scratch all trades that make no sense. I just wish I had been on a trade committee that oversees NBA trades. I'd like to elect myself to that committee. I would have voted no to the L.A. trade."

Gasol was already an All-Star center – also the first Spanish NBA All-Star player in history – who averaged 20+points in two straight seasons before joining he Lakers. However, he never led the Grizzlies through the first round in the playoffs. Moving to the purple and gold became the most important turning point of his career.

From his first starting game as a Laker on February 5, 2008 till the last day of the month, the Lakers were 11-2. Having finished the regular season 57-25, the team dashed all the way to the NBA Finals, in which they lost to the Boston Celtics 4-2. Nonetheless, the purple and gold continued to dominate the Western Conference and reached the Finals in the following two seasons, winning both series, including getting the vengeance on the Celtics in 2010.

Though Andrew Bynum was often the starting center of the Lakers in those years so Gasol had to play power forward, the team's offense was much smoother when Gasol played center and paired Lamar Odom in the paint. Gasol was not as athletic as Dwight Howard; neither was he strong enough to punish most big men in the low block in every possession like Tim Duncan did. He could make shots in the middle range, but was not as sharp as Dirk Nowitzki. These shortcomings held him back when he was the leading player of the Grizzlies.

The Lakers didn't need Gasol to do those like a leader because they had Bryant to carry the offensive production and take over clutch time. Gasol's job was to help the team not turn every game into clutch time contest. As a skilled big man, he could sink in the low block and move the ball fast and smart; when regular solutions didn't work, the screen plays between Gasol and Bryant were the most lethal weapon during that era.

Before Gasol came, the Lakers were again slipping because of injuries and had to overload Bryant, who was unhappy enough to request the team to trade him before the season began. Gasol's arrival made Bryant happy again and helped him pocket his fourth and fifth rings to surpass Shaquille O'Neal. Gasol's arrival put the Lakers back onto the throne of the NBA again.

So, of course, he deserves to have his No. 16 Jersey retired by the purple and gold.