Pau Gasol: Not much to say to Chris Paul – NBA Update
On Monday night in the first pre-season game for both teams, Los Angeles Lakers forward Pau Gasol and Los Angeles Clippers super star Chris Paul came face to face for the first time since the infamous collapsed trade involving
the two.
The duo avoided speaking on the awkward issue.
Gasol said he didn’t really know what to say to Chris when the two crossed paths, so they both just went on with their jobs.
“There were no words exchanged. I really have nothing to say to him. We just played,” said Gasol, according to ESPN. “Obviously this [Clippers] trade went through; I guess that’s what he kind of wanted. I don’t know if he had a
preference.”
Instead, Gasol just wants to focus on helping Los Angeles do as well as they can.
“He does his job, I’ll try to do my job the best way I can so I can be a very valuable piece for this team,” said Gasol.
The Los Angeles Lakers and the New Orleans Hornets, Paul’s former team, had agreed on a trade that would have sent the point guard to Los Angeles and Pau to the Houston Rockets, the third team in the equation. The move was however
shot down by NBA Commissioner David Stern at the eleventh hour after some other NBA owners protested, which left Gasol and Lamar Odom, the other Los Angeles player involved in the deal, with a team, that apparently didn’t want them.
Lamar took the issue a bit too personally and put in a transfer request soon after finding out what had transpired. He was promptly sent to the Dallas Mavericks without any player moving in the opposite direction.
Pau though has made peace with the situation and decided to stay as long as he wasn’t traded out by the team. He has won two NBA World Championships since arriving in Los Angeles and considers it a privilege to put on the famous
golden jersey. Therefore, he will be focusing on helping his current team.
“It’s always great to put on a Laker uniform and play here and play as hard as you can,” Gasol said. “I look forward to this season. It’s a big challenge, it’s a lot to take in, but I’m a professional, I’m a good player and I’m
going to do my best to help this team be the best that it can be.”
Los Angeles Lakers General Manager Mitch Kupchak told reporters last week that the Lakers were still working on some big deals. With Odom already out of the franchise, it could very well be that Los Angeles try and move Pau again
to make things happen.
The forward though isn’t prepared to plan for that scenario just yet.
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