Gasol won his NBA titles in the city with the Lakers and has been a member of a key Olympic panel overseeing the Games since he was elected by athletes as an International Olympic Committee member at the Tokyo Summer Games in 2021. His No. 16 jersey is retired and hangs in the Lakers' home arena that will host gymnastics and boxing at the Games. He was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2023.
The other day I posted a photo with my thoughts on ICE and that photo has since gone everywhere and I've gotten a ton of messages and most of them honestly have been supportive and encouraging. But a lot of the messages have been awful, people telling me to kill myself, threatening me, wishing they'll get to see me blow my knee or break my neck during my event, calling me slurs it's insane.
Billionaire Ross Stevens wants to change that. Beginning with next month's Milan Cortina Games, he will give $200,000 to every U.S. Olympic and Paralympic athlete, regardless of if they win, in a move to help them gain financial security. Stevens, the founder and CEO of Stone Ridge Holdings Group, donated $100 million to the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) for the program in 2025. It was the largest gift in the organization's history.
