Los Angeles Lakers: The Truth About Pau Gasol
On Christmas Day 2014, Pau Gasol will play the Los Angeles Lakers for the first time since leaving the team this summer to sign with Chicago Bulls.
At the time, there was much talk about how Gasol spurned the Lakers (he turned down their offer to return to the team) and bolted to the Eastern Conference in spite of the possibility of once again teaming with Kobe Bryant and taking on the burden of climbing up the Western Conference.
Every narrative surfaced that was a possibility at that point. The main ones included Kobe driving Pau Gasol away, and how this now meant the Lakers were now a shell of themselves as a franchise in terms of being able to retain any sort of basketball talent.
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There may be accuracy in some of these story lines, if only faint truth, but in the end the answer is likely much more simple than the complex, controversial ones that were drawn up at the time.
Looking at Pau Gasol’s season with the Bulls thus far, it’s hard to argue that he is close to being finished despite pushing forward through his age 34 season.
He’s averaging a double-double with a pair of blocks on the year, and looks invigorated as a basketball player likely the result of being able to participate in meaningful games again.
Regardless, it’s interesting to consider the Lakers chances had they retained Gasol’s services for this season. He certainly is an upgrade over Ed Davis or Carlos Boozer (as Chicago now knows), and adding him to this better than expected Lakers squad could make this season all the more interesting.
However, even adding a resurgent Pau Gasol to the mix likely would make Los Angeles a contender to fight for a .500 record more so than a contender for the Western Conference playoffs.
Consider that, and it’s easy to disregard the narratives that surfaced moments after Gasol’s signing with Chicago. The motives were clear, and remain clear: Pau Gasol simply wanted a chance to compete for a title before he began to wrap up his NBA career.
Though nothing is owed in the NBA besides money, Lakers fans can acknowledge that Pau Gasol deserves exactly what he was chasing whether that be with Kobe Bryant or otherwise.
So, as you gather around the television for a day packed with NBA basketball, celebrating the holidays with your close friends, your family, or whoever you will be with, understand that there is nothing bizarre or telling about the Pau Gasol move.
When he takes on his former team, the one that he will go down in the history books with his most memorable seasons (barring some sort of Chicago mini-dynasty), there will be no bad blood. Gasol is a Laker for life, just as he should be, and just as we should remember him.
From the lows of losing to the Boston Celtics in the Finals, to the highs of the back-to-back championships, Gasol put his heart and soul into his time with the Lakers, and will eventually see his name in the rafters.
Pau Gasol is forever a part of the Los Angeles Lakers family, making this Christmas Day game a fitting get together.