The Los Angeles Lakers organization is more than just a basketball franchise, it truly is a family, which is what the late great Jerry Buss envisioned when he purchased the team.
With that being the case, the organization opens its practice facility doors to anyone in the Lakers family at any time. On Saturday evening, that brought for some wholesome moments as Rob Pelinka welcomed Pau Gasol and his family as well as Vanessa Bryant and the family of franchise legend Kobe Bryant to hang out after the USC-UCLA game at The Coliseum.
Kobe and Pau were extremely close going back to their days when they won back-to-back championships together on the Lakers in 2009-10, and since Bryant’s tragic passing, Gasol has remained close with Vanessa and his three daughters.
Thankfully, Vanessa took to Instagram to share some awesome videos and photos of their time at the practice facility as Pau plays with the children:
Gasol has consistently proved not only to be a great player but an even better person, and it is great to see him look over the Bryant family the way he does.
Pau and his wife Cat’s daughter, Elisabet Gianna Gasol, who was born in 2020, has a middle name in honor of Bryant’s daughter Gianna, who also tragically passed away with her dad.
Gasol speaks on relationship with Bryant
Gasol recently had a four-part docuseries released on his career after announcing his retirement this past October. A large part of that focuses on his time with the Lakers and relationship with Bryant.
Ahead of the docuseries’ release, Gasol spoke with Lakers Nation on the impact Kobe had on his career and life, which is a big part of why he remains close with his former teammates’ family today.
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