Lakers’ Pau Gasol reveals he has been playing through tendinitis in both knees – NBA Update
For the last year or so, Pau Gasol has not been the Pau Gasol we have come to know off. The Spanish power forward has lost a touch of that explosiveness, spark and the shooting accuracy which once made him the best in the business.
As it turns out, the Los Angeles Lakers have finally named a reason behind his dipping performances. The franchise has confirmed that the forward has been playing through tendinitis in both knees, and that has affected his performances especially this season;
"It was just something that started flaring up in the preseason," Gasol told reporters after practice on Monday.
"It's been bothering me for a while, but again, you play through it and try to keep it under control," He added "It's a little limiting, but it is what it is. There's not much I can do about it."
Gasol however seemed optimistic that he can play through pain, and won’t be forced out due to the ailment;
"It's been under control, more or less," Gasol said. "Hopefully it won't force me to miss games, unless I feel like my percentage of performance is way down and I just can't do that to myself or to the team."
The power forward entered the season with an impressive Olympics campaign on his back and the trade cloud finally off it. The Lakers were always slated to trade one of their big men last summer and eventually it turned out to be
Andrew Bynum. With all the distractions done and dusted, it was expected that Gasol might be able to turn a new leaf and bring back his game that once made him a four time All-Star.
However that never happened. In fact, Gasol’s numbers have been on a slide. His points, shooting accuracy, rebounds, assists and block averages this season are all below his career figures so far and things have come to a head
under new Lakers coach Mike D’Antoni. After a poor outing in a loss against the Sacramento Kings, Gasol managed only six points and four rebounds in the game against the Memphis Grizzlies, when D’Antoni benched him for the last quarter, and later claimed that
he did so because he wanted to win the game.
The Lakers eventually lost against the Grizzlies, but did find some spark from Pau is the last game against the Dallas Mavericks when he scored 13 points along with nine rebounds and three assists in under-30 minutes.
For Pau, the road is getting tougher and he needs to perform consistently. Apparently, he knows that;
"I didn't want to stop, and I don't want to stop now. I just don't have that luxury."
Tags: