LOS ANGELES — On Tuesday night, Pau Gasol will be elevated into basketball immortality.
The jersey that will hang on the wall of Crypto.com Arena is so hallowed because it is immutable. No Laker will again wear the Spaniard’s No. 16, a powerful symbol of the winning career he built on the court.
But even that sight – his name among 11 Laker greats who all helped author the franchises’ 17 championships – will never compare for Lonnie Walker IV. His strongest memory will forever be Gasol’s hand resting on his shoulder.
Of the current Lakers, Walker is the only one who was ever teammates with Gasol, now 42. It was a brief spell, just half of the 2018-19 season with the San Antonio Spurs when Walker was drafted, and Gasol was embarking on what would be his final NBA season. In a preseason game, Walker tore the meniscus in his right knee, sidelined before his rookie campaign ever began.
That’s a hard place to be for a 19-year-old with high hopes. Walker said he often wondered if the injury was an omen for an NBA career that might quickly slip from his grasp. But every day, Gasol would talk to him. And every day, he’d give Walker a dose of perspective.
“He was one of the few guys who really uplifted me and kept me very positive, understanding that there’s light at the end of the tunnel,” Walker said in an interview with Southern California News Group. “There were times where I felt like it might be my only year in the NBA, and he was someone that instilled that confidence and gave me so much love, the type of player he was, and who he has become and who he is – he’s forever in my heart.”
Understand: Walker was born in 1998. He was nine when Gasol was traded to the Lakers, and as a diehard Kobe Bryant fan, Walker watched loyally. By the time they were teammates, Gasol was entering his 18th season with two championships and six All-Star nods on his resume – looming larger in Walker’s mind than even his 7-foot-1 frame would imply.
But…
Read the full article here
