Officially retired! The basketball career is over! The Lakers traded him for the right to sign Wang Zhelin
On February 1, Beijing time, Spanish player and former NBA champion center, Marc Gasol announced his retirement, ending his 20-year career. NBA Register Shams added that the Grizzlies plan to retire the No. 33 jersey for Gasol Jr. Gasol Jr. was born on January 29, 1985, just turned 39 years old, and has played in the Spanish league for the last two years.
Another player we are familiar with, saying goodbye to the professional arena, I feel a little regretful. In fact, the news of Gasol Jr.'s retirement has been rumored since last offseason, but he denied it at the time, and in September 2023, Gasol Jr. said in an interview: "I thought about retiring before, but I really like basketball, and it's not so simple to say goodbye." ”
In the 2021 offseason, Gasol Jr. left the NBA to join Girona Basketball Club in the Spanish second division, where he is the owner. In the 2021-22 season, Gasol Jr. averaged 14.8 points, 8.6 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game, helping the team to be promoted to La Liga. In the 2022-23 season, he averaged 10.5 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game.
Throughout his NBA career, Gasol Jr. played in a total of 891 regular season games, averaging 14 points, 7.4 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 1.4 blocks and 0.9 steals per game, and the three-point shooting percentages were 48.1%, 36%, and 77.6%. An NBA champion, a Defensive Player of the Year, a three-time All-Star, a two-time All-Defensive Team, a Defensive All-Defensive Team......
As a European player, his NBA career has been successful enough. Gasol Jr. spent his childhood in Barcelona, and in 2001 Gasol was drafted by the Grizzlies, and the family moved to Canada and the United States. Gasol Jr. finished high school at the Collège de Lausanne and returned to Spain after graduating: joining La Liga giants Barcelona.
Gasol Jr. played for Barcelona for three years, joining Girona in 2006 and playing here until 2008. To add to that, in 2013 Girona was disbanded for financial reasons, and in 2014 Gasol Jr. reorganized the team as owner. Back in the 2007 NBA Draft, the Lakers selected Sun Yue with the 40th pick and Gasol Jr. with the 48th pick.
In the 2007-08 season, neither Sun Yue nor Gasol Jr. landed in the NBA. On February 1, 2008, the Grizzlies sent Pau Gasol to the Lakers in exchange for Kwame Brown, Aaron McGee, Critanton, Gasol Jr. signing rights, two first-round picks and some cash. At the time, many people thought that the Lakers were a "robbery" trade, and it turned out that the Grizzlies were not losing.
In the summer of 2008, Gasol Jr. signed with the Grizzlies and began his NBA career. Gasol Jr. played 10 and a half seasons with the Grizzlies, playing in 769 games, averaging 15.2 points, 7.7 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.5 blocks per game. When Pau Gasol was with the Grizzlies, the playoffs were all round-ups. In the 2012-13 season, Gasol Jr. and Randolph brought the Grizzlies to the Western Conference finals.
The black and white bear has become the memory of a generation of fans: muscle to muscle, full of physical confrontation, and whichever team encounters them has to shed a layer of skin, this is what we love about the NBA. Randolph's jersey has been retired by the Grizzlies, and it makes sense that Gasol Jr.'s No. 33 has been retired. In February 2019, the Grizzlies traded 1 for 4 and sent Gasol Jr. to the Raptors.
It's hard to say how lucky it is, after playing in the Grizzlies for so many years, Gasol Jr. hasn't touched the floor of the Finals. Just traded to the Raptors, he won a championship in his first season. In the 2019 playoffs, Gasol Jr. averaged 9.4 points, 6.4 rebounds and 3 assists per game, shooting 38.2% from three-point range. In the 2020 offseason, Gasol Jr. signed with the Lakers for two years and $5.3 million.
In the 2021 offseason, the Lakers signed Jordan Jr., and then traded Gasol Jr. + 1 second-round pick + some cash to the Grizzlies in exchange for Wang Zhelin's signing rights. The Grizzlies then cut Gasol Jr., who returned to Spain to play. The Lakers saved $10 million in luxury tax, and Gasol Jr. said goodbye to the NBA as a Grizzlies player.
Gasol Jr.'s total salary in the NBA is as high as $185 million, and a second-round pick has completed a counterattack, and he is already a winner in life!