Former Memphis GM Chris Wallace told me Marc Gasol’s inclusion was a critical part of the Pau trade, that the team had loved him. I told Marc that and he wasn’t buying it. This and wayyy more in our oral history of the Pau trade in HOF day
Ultimately the decision was made to try to find a deal that would save Memphis money and bring young talent to the team in the form of draft picks and prospects. But with Gasol nursing a sore back, Memphis needed to get something done. Secrecy was a must, with rivals sure to be upset with the deal the Lakers were about to pull off.
There was criticism from around the league, with the most aimed at Memphis from Spurs coach Gregg Popovich and Mavericks owner Mark Cuban.: I completely believe that if they could have, you know, somehow upended the trade they would have tried. They knew that that was going to lead us to victory. Yeah, they’re smart enough guys.I get a kick out of it all the time because Popovich raised holy hell because he wanted the league to look into those things. He got really offended by it.
Gasol debuted on that road trip in New Jersey against the Nets. He scored 24 on 10-of-15 shooting with 12 rebounds.I turn on ESPN that night and they go ‘In his first game, the Lakers Pau Gasol goes for 24 points and 12 rebounds,’ and he’s jumping in Kobe’s arms, shooting all this stuff? I go, ‘I’ll be damned.
Gasol quickly learned that life in Los Angeles wouldn’t instantly be easy. In his first season with Bryant and Jackson, Gasol entered the brightest spotlight of his NBA career, and the results were uneven. In the conference finals against the Spurs and in the NBA Finals against the Celtics, he struggled, averaging14 points. Any critics, though, were quickly answered. By Year 2, he’d be an NBA champion, and in Season 3, he helped the Lakers defeat the Celtics in the NBA Finals for a repeat.
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