This retirement should get a lot more press than it is.

Pau Gasol, the greatest basketball player from Spain, and a member of the Mount Rushmore of European Basketball has announced his retirement from the game.

Debuting in the NBA for the Memphis Grizzlies in 2001, the 7’ 1” Center, becoming the first European to win the Rookie of the Year.  An All-Star for Memphis in 2006, Gasol never had a year where his PPG was lower than 17, his RPG were lower than 7, and his Blocks were lower than 1.5 per Game.  Gasol was low-key one of the more complete players in Basketball, but was not noticed on the national level due to playing in Memphis.  This changed when he was traded to the Lakers during the 2007-08 Season.

Joining Kobe Bryant, Gasol had his perfect dance partner.  Gasol kept his scoring numbers strong, and was able to increase his rebounding stats, posting three straight 10-plus RPG years (2009-10 to 2011-12), earning three straight All-Stars (2008-09 to 2010-12), and most importantly, helped lead the Lakers to Titles in 2009 and 2010.  Gasol was never going to be under the radar again, and Los Angeles treated him like royalty.  Gasol appeared to slip, and he signed with Chicago in 2014, but proved he was far from done.

Gasol went to two more All-Star Games with the Bulls, both of which saw him break the double-digit mark in Rebounds per Game for the fourth and fifth time.  Overall, Gasol was a four-time All-NBA Selection (two Second Team and two Third Team), and he would also play for San Antonio and Milwaukee, before returning to Spain to finish his career.  He last played in the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo.  Gasol will be Hall of Fame eligible in 2023.

If you are not convinced about Gasol’s Hall of Fame candidacy, don’t forget that Springfield does care about International accomplishments, and Gasol has a treasure chest full of those.   This includes two Olympic Silver Medals, an Olympic Bronze, a World Cup Gold, and three EuroBasket Gold Medals.

If Gasol is not a first ballot Hall of Famer, we would be shocked.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to wish Pau Gasol the best in his post-playing career, and we thank him for the memories.

Sports betting platforms in North America are surging in popularity. However, that’s not the most interesting thing about the industry. The most intriguing aspect is the relationship between sports gambling and online casinos.  

When you land on a website that offers sportsbooks, you more than likely find online casino services too. This applies to Canada and the US, where applicable, as well as Europe, Asia and Australia. Everyone is used to this by now, but you may not know why the connection exists. In that case, please read the following.  

Online Casinos Fill Gaps Left by Sportsbooks  

The two markets are part of the same industry, so there is some inevitable crossover. Research shows that people who like to wager, in general, are more likely to try other verticals. For example, older people prefer less complicated wagering related activities, which can be sportsbooks or bingo and slot machines.  

This doesn’t mean they are the same, though. Indeed, sports betting leaves gaps that users want filled to maintain a high level of customer service. A brilliant example is the sporting calendar because most matches happen once a week. When there aren’t soccer or ice hockey matches to consume, digital casino offerings are fantastic alternatives. Super Seven points out that online slots are synonymous with online casinos because they are available 24-hours a day, seven days a week, which is essential if you like to wager regularly. You can visit the site to see the full selectionand witness this yourself. In simple, they plug the gap during the in-between period of sports fixtures.  

What this shows is that operators can enhance the user experience by making sure there are accessible activities when the primary ones aren’t convenient. 

The Profit Potential Is High  

Regardless of why people wager on sportsbooks and online casinos, there’s no doubt that the potential for both markets in North America is incredibly lucrative. This is visible through the investment sector, especially exchange-traded funds. ETF operators are backing the industries heavily.  

In 2021, the players that are doubling down are now the funds that are experiencing an almost 100% rise in revenues from June 2020. Of course, this pumps more money into the industries and makes them very lucrative on several fronts. Once this is the case, it’s a no-brainer for the main brands to incorporate different verticals on their websites and mobile applications.  

As the sectors open up across North America, particularly in the United States, it’s hard to see how the trend won’t continue upwards.  

Things Get Less Exciting  

The novelty factor can wear off, regardless of the activity and how much you love it. It’s a universal experience, yet it tends to happen among men more than women. Seeing as males spend more money on wagering, it makes sense that operators take action to negate the impact.  

Online casinos do this by providing a vertical that shares similarities, but one that has separate elements. As a result, the casino services are appealing to sports betting fans, which is partly why the size of the global gambling market is over $2200 billion.  

Online casino offerings help to maintain the customer experience, and that’s why you see the tabs when you land on sports betting operators’ sites and apps.  

The next time you place a wager on a sportsbook market, please keep these factors in mind. They may transform the way you consume gambling activities. 

Yes, we know that this is taking a while!

As many of you know, we here at Notinhalloffame.com are slowly generating the 50 of each major North American sports team.  That being said, we have existing Top 50 lists out and we always consistently look to update them when we can and based on necessity.  As such, we are very happy to present our pre-2021-22 revision of our top 50 New Jersey Devils.

As for all of our top 50 players in hockey we look at the following: 

1.  Advanced Statistics.

2.  Traditional statistics and how they finished in the NHL. 

3.  Playoff accomplishments.

4.  Their overall impact on the team and other intangibles not reflected in a stat sheet.

Please note, that this is our first revision, reflective of the last year.

With the Devils being a weak team in 2020-21, very little changed, and the top five remains the same as last year.

1. Martin Brodeur

2. Scott Stevens

3. Scott Niedermayer

4. Patrik Elias

5. Ken Daneyko

You can find the entire list here.

The only change is Kyle Palmieri, inching up one spot to #25. He was traded during the season last year to the New York Islanders.

We welcome your input and comments and as always, we thank you for your support.

Yes, we know that this is taking a while!

As many of you know, we here at Notinhalloffame.com are slowly generating the 50 of each major North American sports team.  That being said, we have existing Top 50 lists out and we always consistently look to update them when we can and based on necessity.  As such, we are very happy to present our pre-2021-22 revision of our top 50 Pittsburgh Penguins.

As for all of our top 50 players in hockey we look at the following: 

1.  Advanced Statistics.

2.  Traditional statistics and how they finished in the NHL. 

3.  Playoff accomplishments.

4.  Their overall impact on the team and other intangibles not reflected in a stat sheet.

Please note, that this is our first revision in in the last two years, and it has generated two new entries, and some slight elevations.

As always, we present our top five immediately, and there is a new #5.

1. Mario Lemieux

2. Sidney Crosby

3. Jaromir Jagr

4. Evgeni Malkin

5. Kris Letang

You can find the entire list here.

Letang overtook Marc-Andre Fleury for the #5 slot, and Crosby and Malkin, who are still with Pittsburgh notably stayed in the same spots.

Current Center, Jake Guentzel, enters at #29.  While this seems like a very high debut for a player who has yet to appear as an All-Star, it reflects the drop off after #20 on this list in terms of Penguins accomplishments.

Patric Hornqvist, who was traded to Florida last September, moved up to spots to #30.

The second new addition is Goalie, Matt Murray, who won two Stanley Cups, at #38.  He is now with Ottawa.

We welcome your input and comments and as always, we thank you for your support.