When the Los Angeles Lakers acquired Pau Gasol from the Memphis Grizzlies, he had a reputation of being soft. That all changed once Pau became teammates with Kobe Bryant, claims Boston Celtics legend Paul Pierce.
Pierce and the Celtics defeated Kobe, Pau and the Lakers in the 2008 Finals. However, the Lakers got their revenge on Pierce and the Celtics in the 2010 Finals, when Bryant, Gasol and Los Angeles defeated the Celtics in seven games.
Pierce says Bryant made Gasol tougher and “a Hall of Famer.”
“We had four All-Stars,” Paul Pierce told Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson on All The Smoke. “He (Kobe Bryant) had two, he had Pau Gasol, but he toughened Pau Gasol up. Cuz that first Finals, we ran through Pau Gasol. Kobe made him a Hall of Famer.”
Bryant and Gasol won back-to-back championships together on the Lakers after that 2008 Finals loss to the Celtics. They became very close on and off the court. Bryant's tragic death was very hard on Gasol, as you can imagine.
Kobe was named a Hall of Famer this past weekend. Gasol, who might be done with basketball, will be a Hall of Famer once he's eligible.
Gasol has career NBA averages of 17.0 points and 9.2 rebounds with the Grizzlies, Lakers, Chicago Bulls, San Antonio Spurs and Milwaukee Bucks. He is a six-time NBA All-Star and was the 2002 Rookie of the Year with the Grizzlies.
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