La Lakers recently gave Pau Gasol a tribute by retiring his number 16 jersey on Tuesday. A landmark achievement has only been given to a handful amount of players in the franchise’s history.
With this recognition, Gasol joins Kobe Bryant in the list of illustrious men to grace their court. Even Vanessa Bryant visited the Lakers’ Arena for the first time since her spouse’s memorial in 2020.
Gasol’s highlighted legacy was also a big occasion for people in Spain. Fernando Alonso, the two-time world champion, shared a message for the six-time NBA all-star on his Instagram.
Fernando Alonso congratulates Pau Gasol for his achievement
The Spanish race driver on Thursday shared a photo of Gasol with another grid displaying all the retired jerseys in the Lakers. Alonso captioned the story: “Que Pasada Paul Gasol Leyenda!”
The rough translation of that is “rough blast, Paul Gasol legend!” The Spaniard has shared a good friendship with his compatriot, who has even visited him in the F1 garage a few times.
@alo_oficial congratulates his compatriot @paugasol after becoming the 12th person in Lakers history to get their jersey number retired! pic.twitter.com/RK56b3541n
— Tanish Chachra (@autoandvroom) March 9, 2023
Gasol finished his basketball career in Spain only after a second stint with a second stint at Barcelona after 20 years. When the 42-year-old retired, Alonso even shared a heartfelt note on Twitter for him too.
Alonso is living a legendary dream
While Gasol, at 42, is already looking at his post-retirement life, for Alonso, at 41, it seems like the journey is still long. The two-time F1 world champion has started his new stint with Aston Martin.
On his first race with them, he scored a podium and has shown that with him, they are the dark horses for the 2023 season. Many even speculate they are on the trajectory of ousting Mercedes from the P3 position they secured last year.
Alonso hasn’t won an F1 race for over a year now. If he manages to bag one this year, it would not only be a big boost for him but also for his team, who have yet to get an F1 win since its inception.
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