Gasol gets emotional as Lakers retire his No. 16 jersey

LOS ANGELES » When Pau Gasol joined the Los Angeles Lakers just over 15 years ago, the Spanish 7-footer banished his ego, redoubled his work ethic and immediately turned a struggling team into contenders who eventually became champions.

Gasol and Kobe Bryant did it all together, and their numbers now hang side by side in the Lakers’ arena.

The Lakers retired Gasol’s No. 16 jersey Tuesday night, honoring the genteel big man who spent the best seasons of his 18year NBA career with Bryant in Los Angeles. The Lakers reached three straight NBA

Finals after Gasol’s arrival in February 2008, winning championships in 2009 and 2010.

“I think I’ve done as good as I could to really embrace it and savor it, but tonight really exceeds any dream or expectation that I’ve had,” Gasol said before the game while wearing one championship ring on each hand. “It means so much, and obviously with Kobe up there, it just adds something meaningful and powerful and sad and happy and painful and joyful. It’s a lot of things.”

Gasol’s versatile game complemented Bryant’s scoring prowess perfectly when Gasol decided to be a supporting player to a fellow superstar, and the two also formed a deep off-court friendship that endured to Bryant’s death in 2020.

BUCKS 134, MAGIC 123 » Brook Lopez scored 26 points, Kris Middleton and Jevon Carter each added 24 points and Milwaukee beat Orlando for its 18th win in 19 games. WIZARDS 119, PISTONS 117 » Daniel Gafford converted a putback of Bradley Beal’s airball at the buzzer, and Washington handed Detroit its ninth straight loss.

Morant sidelined as NBA investigates

Ja Morant’s skyrocketing career is on hold following a series of off-court decisions by the young NBA star involving a gun in a strip club, actions which have temporarily derailed his meteoric rise.

Morant is the target of a second NBA investigation in weeks with no timetable for his return to the Memphis Grizzlies. The two-time All-Star missed his second game Tuesday when Memphis visited the Lakers.

His benching after showing an apparent gun while at a strip club hours after a loss to Denver comes amid a sealed lawsuit alleging he punched a teenager during a pick-up game at his home last summer along with drinking and partying.

Memphis coach Taylor Jenkins says the 23-year-old Morant is a young man that has to “grow and get better.”