Pau Gasol recalls bond with Kobe Bryant in emotional Hall of Fame speech: 'Elevated my game like no other'

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Pau Gasol knows that his two NBA championships wouldn’t have come without the late Kobe Bryant by his side on the court. Gasol recalled their bond as he was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame on Saturday night in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Gasol said Bryant, who died along with his daughter, Gianna, and others in a helicopter crash in 2020, "elevated my game like no other." And it began immediately when the Memphis Grizzlies traded him to the Lakers during the 2007-2008 season.

He shared an anecdote that spoke to Bryant’s hunger for winning NBA championships the night that Gasol was traded. Gasol was sent to Washington, D.C., to meet up with the Lakers, and since it was late at night and Los Angeles’ game was at noon the next day, he didn’t think he’d be meeting his teammates until the morning. 

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Pau Gasol is shown at the Basketball Hall of Fame induction ceremony on August 12, 2023, in Springfield, Massachusetts. (Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images)

Bryant, though, wanted to stay up to meet his new center.

"He was texting me, saying, ‘Hey, I want to come by your room, and I want to welcome you, want to say hello, want to welcome you to the team,'" Gasol said. "I said, ‘It’s going to be late. It’s going to be like past 1 a.m. You sure you don’t want to wait for tomorrow?’"

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Bryant, of course, insisted that he and Gasol speak. Gasol said that winning was the topic of conversation, recalling that Bryant was "straight to the chase," to which Gasol replied, "I’m in."

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