Pau Gasol is one of the Los Angeles Lakers’ most beloved former players. After arriving in a trade with the Memphis Grizzlies during the 2007-08 season, Gasol helped the Lakers win back to back championships in 2008-09 and in 2009-10. He is set to have his jersey retirement ceremony by the Lakers on Tuesday during their game against the Memphis Grizzlies. For a while, European players like Gasol were criticized as being soft. Most recently, Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green dropped a controversial opinion regarding European players in the NBA. Ahead of his jersey retirement ceremony, Gasol spoke with SiriusXM NBA Radio regarding that perception.
“That was kind of the label or the narrative that European players had at the time”@PauGasol talks with @TermineRadio & @JumpShot8 about the criticism around Euro players including himself. #LakersNation pic.twitter.com/9qbvVAXQit
— SiriusXM NBA Radio (@SiriusXMNBA) March 8, 2023
“Obviously I won’t say it was pleasant, I remember that was kind of the narrative European players had at the time. Great, skilled players, fundamentally sound, great IQ and stuff but just not physical enough and soft,” Gasol said. “It was discussed a lot more when we got beat by the Celtics in 08. They were a more physical team than we were and I got highlighted on that loss. But at the same it’s like okay I’m going to use this as motivation. I’m going to take this as a personal challenge and I’m going to make sure that I’m ready because I knew that I got physically outmatched that series.”
It’s safe to say that the motivation worked for Pau Gasol. When the Lakers squared off against the Celtics in the 2010 Finals, Gasol was a much more aggressive and determined player. During that Finals series, Gasol averaged 18.6 points per game, 11.6 rebounds and 3.7 assists while shooting 47.8 percent from the field.
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