SUMMARY
- Marc Gasol is a former NBA center who played with the Lakers during his final season.
- Gasol played in just 52 games for the Lakers and averaged career low scoring numbers.
Marc Gasol is a former NBA player best known for his time with the Memphis Grizzlies. However, some observant NBA fans might be aware that Gasol had a brief stint with the Los Angeles Lakers before his NBA career came to an end.
To those who do not know, Gasol was an NBA center who played in the NBA for a 13-year-long career. As some members of the basketball community might have guessed from his surname, Marc Gasol is the younger brother of Los Angeles Lakers legend Pao Gasol. Pao managed to help Kobe Bryant and the Lakers win back-to-back NBA championships in 2009 and 2010.
Coming back to Pao’s younger brother, Marc also managed to win an NBA championship in 2019. Fans might recall that he was an integral part of the Raptors roster and aided Kawhi Leonard to lead the franchise to its first-ever NBA championship.
Marc Gasol played in just 52 games for the Los Angeles Lakers
In comparison to the average NBA player, Gasol started his career in the league quite late. He was selected with the 48th pick in the 2007 NBA Draft. However, he did not play in that season with the Memphis Grizzlies and continued to play for other pro leagues in Spain.
As a result, Marc was already 24 years old when he finally made his debut for the Grizzlies. He instantly proved himself as an asset to his team and remained loyal to the Grizzlies for over a decade. Gasol was then traded to the Toronto Raptors when he was 34 years old and finally joined the Lakers when he was 36.
Consdering that most players across the league retire by that point, it is no real surprise that Marc did the same after just one season with the Los Angeles Lakers. He only played in 52 games during the 2020-2021 NBA season and failed to have the impact that fans had grown accustomed to throughout the earlier stages of his career.
Gasol averaged the lowest numbers of his career with the Lakers
Players who have surpassed the age of 35 can be considered at the very end of their careers and are usually a shell of themselves. While there are certainly exceptions to this rule such as LeBron James and Stephen Curry, Gasol was simply not the player he used to be during his stint with the Lakers.
Throughout his NBA career, Marc Gasol averaged 14 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 3.4 assists. He also shot 36% from the three-point line, which is quite impressive for an NBA center. However, Marc averaged a career-low of 5 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 2.5 assists with the Lakers.
Consdering that these numbers are significantly worse when compared to his rookie season, it is no real surprise that Gasol decided to retire after the 2020-2021 NBA season.