Santi Aldama names the reason he became a basketball player / News - Basketnews.com

Santi Aldama told that Pau Gasol and Kobe Bryant winning NBA championship rings together made him become a basketball player. The forward told that he will miss the usual halftime procedures to witness Gasol's jersey being retired by the Lakers.

Credit: Jason Miller/Getty Images via AFP - Scanpix Credit Jason Miller/Getty Images via AFP - Scanpix

22-year-old Santi Aldama is in his second year in the NBA playing for the Memphis Grizzlies. He will now witness one of his idols getting immortalized during Tuesday night's match against the Los Angeles Lakers.

Santi Aldama

MIN:21.85PTS:9.18 (52.37%)REB:4.53As:1.2ST:0.67BL:0.68TO:0.72GM:60ProfileNBA2022/2023

Pau Gasol's no. 16 jersey will be retired during halftime of the game between the two teams. The Spanish forward won't miss it even though he will have his regular duties with the team.

"There is a technical talk and a team meeting at halftime but I want to be there to see what happens with Pau," Aldama told Jesus Sanchez from Marca.

Aldama admits - Gasol's duo with the late Kobe Bryant was why he became the basketball player that he is today.

"Seeing them win rings with the Lakers is what helped me to be a basketball player. Being able to see Pau win titles has been a great influence. Pau is a benchmark," he revealed.

This season, Aldama is averaging almost 22 minutes of playing time per game - almost double the amount from his rookie season last year.

"I'm getting minutes, I feel like I'm contributing, that I'm helping the team win and that I'm part of what we're achieving," he said. "We're having a very good season. We're struggling a lot, [we're having] ups and downs as it's normal in such a long season. Now we'll see where we can go in the playoffs."

Thank you for being with us! Subscribe to BN+ and browse ad-free.