Just moments before the World Cup final between Spain and Argentina was set to kick off, a Lakers champion revealed he is at the game.
Pau Gasol posted a photo of himself and his wife, Catherine McDonnell, at the game during pregame festivities.
Gasol, a native of Spain, is one of the many celebrities and former top athletes of the world watching the biggest soccer match of the year between Spain and Argentina.
Gasol is an avid soccer fan and has been a huge FC Barcelona fan. He has long admired Lionel Messi and has called him a “special player.”
Throughout this year’s tournament, Gasol has been active in watching it and has raved about watching Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland.
Recently, Gasol made a major investment in soccer by investing 55 million Euros ($62.7 million) into FC Barcelona’s top-flight women’s soccer competition, the Liga F.
Outside of his love for soccer, Gasol began his professional basketball career in Spain when he played for FC Barcelona’s basketball team from 1998 to 2001.
In 2001, Gasol was drafted by the Grizzlies with the 27th pick of the NBA draft and was later traded by the Grizzlies to the Lakers in 2008.
During his time with the Lakers, he helped Kobe Bryant win back-to-back NBA championships. In 2023, the Lakers made Gasol the 12th player in franchise history to have his number retired as his No.16 now sits alongside Bryant’s, hanging from the rafters in Crypto.com Arena.
