Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol open up about Dwight Howard’s move to Los Angeles Lakers – NBA Update
The arrival of Dwight Howard to the Los Angeles Lakers has once put the franchise firmly on the championship map.
The Lakers have been working throughout the summer to put together a championship calibre team. Last month, Mitch Kupchak and company pulled off one of the most unexpected moves when they landed Steve Nash in a sign and trade deal with long time rivals Phoenix Suns. They then signed free agent Antawn Jamison, and is if the addition of Nash was not enough to create shockwaves throughout the league, the Lakers acquired the services of unarguably the best centre of his generation, Dwight Howard in a block buster four team trade.
The team already has the likes of Pau Gasol and Kobe Bryant, with the latter gunning for his sixth championship ring that will put in the same plane as the legendary Michael Jordan.
When asked how he felt on getting the new of D-12’s arrival in Lakerland, Bryant, who is currently with Team USA rearing up for the final of the London Olympics against Spain, admitted that he was excited;
"I was very excited. It's one of those things where you hear it and you have got to let it go, because it changes every two minutes. Once I got the word it was confirmed, obviously, my mentality switched from excitement to execution and how we're going to do it."
The move not only puts the Lakers in strong contention for the coming season but also gives them their franchise a new face once Bryant decided to hang up his boots.
At the moment though, Bryant’s focus is on the basketball final against Spain on August 12th. The European giants are led by Bryant’s LAL team mate Gasol, who is eager to help his team upset the Americans in the repeat of last Olympics’ finale.
However, he did comment on the arrival of his new front court partner;
"I think it's something that puts us in a position of being an extremely powerful team and a team with all the chances of going for the ring again," Gasol said.
The duo of Bryant and Gasol won back to back championships with the Lakers but had slipped out of contention with early play off exits in the past two seasons. However with new improvements in the form of Nash and Howard coming during the summer, the Lakers are one of the strongest team going into next season.
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