Pau Gasol

born July 6, 1980 in Sant Boi de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spainis a 2.13 m (7 ft.) Spanish professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA).

He was born to Marisa Sàez and Agustí Gasol, and he spent his childhood growing up in Spain. Gasol's brother, Marc Gasol, is also a professional basketball player. Gasol was drafted by the Atlanta Hawks in the 2001 NBA Draft, but his rights were traded to the Memphis Grizzlies, where he won the NBA Rookie of the Year Award. He currently holds the Memphis Grizzlies franchise records for career games played, minutes played, field goals made and attempted, free throws made and attempted, offensive, defensive, and total rebounds, blocked shots, turnovers, and points. After seven seasons with the team, Gasol was traded to the Lakers on February 1, 2008, and a USA Today newspaper article said he was "the major factor in turning around a storied NBA franchise and making it hip to be a Lakers fan again." In Gasol's first season with the Grizzlies, he won the Rookie of the Year Award and was named to the

All-Rookie first team. He averaged 17.6 points and 8.9 rebounds per game, and was also the only team member to play in all 82 games that season. Gasol led the team in scoring (19.0 points per game) in his second year with the team, and for the second year in a row, played in all 82 games. Gasol missed the first game of his career, during his third year, with a foot injury on April 5, 2004, which snapped his string of 240 consecutive games played. He grabbed the 1,500th rebound of his career on November 12, 2003, against the Orlando Magic and scored his 3,000th career point on October 31, 2003, against the Boston Celtics. Despite having 22 points in Game 4 against the San Antonio Spurs, the highest by a Memphis players in the playoffs, his team was eliminated in the first round, not winning a single game against San Antonio. This was both the Grizzlies and Gasol's first trip to the NBA Playoffs. He scored 31 points and blocked four shots on January 11, 2005, against the Indiana Pacers to earn 5,000 points and 500 blocks in his career, becoming the 10th fastest player to reach 5,000 points/500 blocks since 1973-74.

He also helped his team make it to the playoffs for the second time in his career, but they were eliminated in the first round and did not win a single game against the Phoenix Suns. Gasol is currently in his eighth year in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is very athletic and quick for a 7 footer, and plays the power forward and center positions. He has often been compared with fellow European players Toni Kukoč and Dirk Nowitzki, holding career averages of 18.8 points, 8.6 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game. He is a refined scorer from both inside and midrange, his overall game is near-ambidextrous, and makes it difficult for opposing teams to defend. Gasol uses a variety of midrange jumpers, hook shots, up-and-under moves and shot fakes to score very efficiently. He is also an above-average shot blocker, with a career average of 1.8 blocks per game. Statistically, he shoots 22.7 percent when it comes to three pointers. Before being traded to the Los Angeles Lakers during the 2007-08 season, he had only played with the Memphis Grizzlies from 2001-2008. When he was traded to the Lakers, he maintained the same number on his jersey, still playing with the number 16. In his career, Gasol has never been ejected. Gasol scored his 10,000th point in a game against the Jazz on the 2nd of January 2009.[35] He finished with 21 points, 11 rebounds and six assists in the win.