Pau Gasol
Pau Gasol
Pau Gasol Sáezis a Spanish professional basketball player for the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association. He is a six-time NBA All-Star, and a four-time All-NBA selection, twice on the second team and twice on the third team. He has won two NBA championships, both with the Los Angeles Lakers. He was the NBA Rookie of the Year in 2002 with the Memphis Grizzlies, one of only two non-American NBA players to win that award. He is the...
NationalitySpanish
ProfessionBasketball Player
Date of Birth6 July 1980
CityBarcelona, Spain
CountrySpain
I haven't felt any (pain) today and that's what I was looking for. We were looking for release from a lot of the fatigue and all that soreness that I had, and it's worked pretty well.
He's played more minutes today than in the previous three games, and it's difficult mentally to achieve that, but he's done it.
It's the usual thing with him. He likes to run his mouth. I said something back and he went crazy. That's fine.
He was really on me. But we had a nice mismatch there, and I just had to shoot over him.
I just took the day off to get my legs back and get my knees back. Whatever it takes to do that, I'll do. I'm not too worried about it. We'll see what happens (tonight).
I wasn't trying to settle for a shot. I wanted to get to the rim and get a win for my team. I just wanted to be aggressive.
I could have played, ... I've been able to play for a while now, but Memphis wanted me to rest so I can be ready for the season. They don't really want me to play during the summer because the season is so long.
He wanted me to keep shooting and not refuse to shoot because I was missing. Like Eddie told me once, he's been in all the different scenarios -- been the main guy, the No. 2 option, and the third option. He knows how it feels.
It's really painful for the team to lose Damon. He's been a great leader for us and we'll miss his great finishes down the stretch.
I ain't gonna lie, I was aware of it. I know I needed the assists and I was hoping that Mike Miller was going to make one of those shots (in the fourth quarter). I had a good game sharing the ball and making the right decisions.
We weren't ready. We didn't come out ready to compete at their level. It was frustrating because we weren't clicking from the start.
I won't forget the hood. I won't forget the days of catching a bullet on the way to the mailbox or bricks with death threats that somehow made their way through the window.
I want to continue to expand my game a little more, build my body and work on staying strong so I can play the way I've been playing, and holding my ground the way I've been holding my ground.
With this kind of incident like we had, it was hard to be 100 percent focused. But we found a way. That's what we've been doing.