NBA

Kobe Bryant Says Pau Gasol Will Be A Laker As Long As Kobe Bryant Is A Laker

Amidst the signing of Steve Nash and persistent Dwight Howard trade rumors, Pau Gasol’s life as a Laker has been relatively stable. His recent disappointing performance, dating back to the 2011 playoffs, used to have Lakers’ fans calling for his head. But then Dwight Howard came into the picture and all those rumblings disappeared. Now it’s Andrew Bynum who’s on the chopping block.

Still, the topic of Pau Gasol came up during a recent Kobe Bryant interview, and Kobe seemed to change his tune. Way back in February, Kobe seemingly ceded control of Pau’s status to Mitch Kupchak, asking for a resolution: trade him, or don’t. Just decide. Now it appears Kobe has grabbed the reins once more, declaring this about Gasol to a Spanish reporter:

“As long as I’m there, he’s going to be there.”

“As long as I’m there” isn’t exactly a ringing endorsement anymore – as you may remember, Kobe said he might retire in two years. Still, this reversal is conveniently timed, as Gasol is no longer on the block anyway, and his contract expires at the same time as Kobe’s projected retirement. So really, Bryant is saying that Gasol will play out his contract.

This is all just further affirmation of what we already knew – Kobe’s involved in personnel decisions, somehow, even if his fickle personality cycles teammates from key cog in the Laker machine to detrimental outcast on a seemingly daily basis.

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