Marc Gasol will have No. 33 jersey retired on April 6, Grizzlies announce

Marc Gasol announced his retirement on Wednesday following a 20-year basketball career that saw him begin and end his time as a player in his home country of Spain, and make three stops in North America in the NBA.

On Thursday, the Memphis Grizzlies revealed its plans to retire Gasol's No. 33 jersey during a ceremony on April 6, when the Grizzlies welcome the Philadelphia 76ers to town. Gasol will join former teammate Zach Randolph as the only other player in franchise history to have his jersey hung in the rafters.

Gasol, 39, played for FC Barcelona and CB Girona before entering the 2007 NBA Draft and being selected by the Los Angeles Lakers 48th overall. While still with Girona for the 2007-08 season, his rights were dealt to the Grizzlies as part of a deal that saw his older brother, Pau, head to the Lakers.

After signing with the Grizzlies for the 2008-09 season, Marc Gasol broke the franchise rookie record for field-goal percentage (53%), which was previously held by Pau. His first NBA season ended with NBA All-Rookie Second Team honors after averaging 11.9 points and 7.4 rebounds per game.

Gasol stayed with the Grizzlies for a decade and was traded to the Toronto Raptors in February 2019. Later that season, the Raptors would win the NBA title by defeating the Golden State Warriors in six games. The championship made the Gasol brothers the first set of brothers to win NBA titles after Pau's two wins with the Lakers.

After one more season in Toronto, Marc Gasol signed with the Lakers for the COVID-shortened 2020-21 season. The following September, he was dealt back to the Grizzlies but never intended to rejoin the team as he had chosen to stay in Spain. Gasol would sign with Bàsquet Girona, the club he founded in 2014, and helped them get promoted to Liga ACB.

On the international scene, Gasol was an impact player with Spain, helping his country to back-to-back silver medals at the 2008 and 2012 Olympics, two FIBA World Cup gold medals, and two golds, two silvers and one bronze medal at the FIBA Eurobasket.

Gasol finished his NBA career as a three-time All-Star and during the 2012-13 season was named Defensive Player of the Year and earned All-NBA Second Team and All-Defensive Second Team honors. He would later make the All-NBA First Team following the 2014-15 season.