For the first weekend through training camp, Pau Gasol wore a Lakers uniform, unsure how soon he'd have to take it off.
The NBA rejected the Lakers' attempt to trade him to Houston in a three-way deal involving Chris Paul. So while the Lakers kept trying, Gasol kept reiterating his desire to wear purple and gold, provided endless interviews to the media spouting his positive attitude and practiced as if nothing fazed him. That hardly impressed Kobe Bryant, though.
"You have your job to do and you come out and do your job," Bryant said in an unsympathetic tone. "You can't worry about it."
Three months later Bryant was worrying about it. Gasol recalled Bryant approaching him in recent days, saying how tough it must feel to remain on the trading block leading to the March 15 deadline. Unknown to Gasol, Bryant then took those sentiments public following the Lakers' 102-90 loss Sunday to the Phoenix Suns.
"If they're not going to do it, come out and say you're not going to do it," Bryant said. "This way, he can be comfortable and go out and can perform and play and he can invest all of himself into the game. You can't have one of our pillars not knowing if he's going to be here or not. Do something. One way or another, do something."
It's easy to note the contradiction in Bryant's statements and wonder about the ulterior motives. Believe Bryant initially remained detached because he thought the Lakers might acquire Paul. Argue that Bryant spoke out Sunday to leverage the front office into making a big deal three weeks before the deadline. Think he may have just had an emotional outburst to mask his 10 turnovers against Phoenix.
Those are all legitimate explanations. But there's also two others. First, the painfully obvious one. The Lakers' front office led by executive Jim Buss appears more and more unlikely to land a big deal before the March 15 deadline. A statement from General Manager Mitch Kupchak may have revealed the practical implications that it'd be absurd to remove a strong trade chip in Gasol in future talks. But Bryant needed to call out the front office's misgivings after giving them a three-month grace period. Secondly, there's the more subtle sign. Bryant's public support for Gasol serves as the latest example of his measured approach in leading the Lakers.
"He's not perfect," Lakers rookie guard Andrew Goudelock noted before making clear he loves Bryant's brutal honesty and perfectionist work ethic. But it's definitely calculated.
"You just have to go for feel," Bryant said. "It just depends. I can tell when [Gasol's] down and when enough is enough. He went through the first phase and played through it and got out of that. Then he gets hit with another one. Then I can tell he's down and this is a little harder to overcome. We have two [road] games coming up and I don't want that weighing on him and thinking about it. Will he still be thinking about it? Sure, but he knows we all support him here in the locker room and we all got his back."
-- Mark Medina
E-mail the Lakers blog at mgmedin@gmail.com
