Russell Westbrook names Lakers great as his favorite player growing up

Los Angeles Lakers’ Russell Westbrook reveals that Pau Gasol was his favorite player growing up.

Pau Gasol officially announced his retirement from professional basketball on Tuesday, and shortly thereafter the Los Angeles Lakers released their plans to retire Gasol’s No. 16 jersey. He spent seven seasons playing in Los Angeles and won two NBA titles during his time in purple and gold.

One of the newest Lakers, Russell Westbrook, told the media that his favorite player growing up was Pau. Westbrook grew up in Southern California and now has the chance to follow in Gasol’s footsteps for a shot at his first championship in Los Angeles.

Pau Gasol was Los Angeles Lakers’ Russell Westbrook’s favorite player

Westbrook was traded from the Washington Wizards to the Lakers during the offseason in July. He spent 11 seasons with the Oklahoma City Thunder, one with the Houston Rockets and a season with Washington before making his way back home to California.

Brodie is not only now playing for his favorite team growing up, but he also gets to sport the same colors as his favorite player, too.

Westbrook revealed that Gasol and Rasheed Wallace were his two top players before Kobe Bryant.

Russell said that he obviously didn’t model his game after the way that Pau played, but that he always admired it. If Westbrook can help lead the Lakers to the finals and play with a similar intensity to that of Bryant and Gasol in both 2009 and 2010, things will have come full circle for him.

If Los Angeles can win its second title in three seasons, it’ll be Pau’s turn to sit back and watch Russell. Dreams do come true.