NBA veteran Pau Gasol, who won two NBA titles, announced his retirement from basketball on Tuesday.
Gasol, 41, had a career spanning two decades, earning two NBA titles with the Los Angeles Lakers and a world championship gold with Spain’s national team.
"I'm going to retire from professional basketball," Gasol said during the press conference, according to ESPN. "It's a difficult decision after so many years, but it's a decision that I really thought over."
During his press conference, he wished his "older brother" Kobe Bryant could be beside him.
“I really would have liked for him to be here,” Gasol said according to the news outlet. "Sometimes life can be very unfair, and we miss him and his daughter ‘Gigi’ a great deal. He taught me how to be a better leader, a better competitor. He showed me what it meant to be a winner. I have always considered him my older brother, so thank you, Kobe.”
Gasol won two NBA titles with the Lakers in 2009 and 2019 and last played in the NBA with the Milwaukee Bucks in 2019.
He'd been playing for the Spanish club Barcelona since February.
