Pau Gasol offers a pair of tributes to the retiring Kobe Bryant

Kobe Bryant’s farewell tour continues apace, and on Sunday evening the stop in Chicago provided what will probably act as the most significant moment in the go-round until his final game and final home contest against Utah on April 13.

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Playing not only in the former home of his idol Michael Jordan, but against former teammate and friend Pau Gasol, Bryant was treated a rare (and unprecedented) dimming of the United Center lights as he was treated to a video tribute and introduced by Gasol:

(Reminder: Chicago didn’t even dim the lights in Michael Jordan’s return to the UC in 2001-02, and legendary Bulls public address announcer Ray Clay too-enthused introduction of the man that brought Chicago six championships reportedly drew the ire of then-general manager Jerry Krause and longtime promotion operations head Steve Schanwald, allegedly costing Clay his job a few months later.)

Following the contest – one in which a defensively-inept Bulls team barely hung on to win as Bryant scored 22 points and Pau added 21 points – Gasol hopped on Instagram to give a personal tribute:

It’s easy to speculate that this will likely count as the most poignant goodbye that Kobe has remaining in his season. Nothing against Milwaukee and their Bucks, but any tribute in Monday night’s Lakers/Bucks contest probably won’t be as affecting.

And you can certainly rule out an embrace along these lines when the Lakers visit Dwight Howard and the Houston Rockets on April 10.

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Kelly Dwyer

is an editor for Ball Don't Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at KDonhoops@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @KDonhoops