Pau Gasol's Leaving Lakerland, Eventually

"That's where I'm going?" (Gary A. Vasquez/U.S. Presswire)

Mike Brown is the most recent casualty of the Los Angeles Lakers' post-Phil Jackson era. He joins Shannon Brown, Derek Fisher and Lamar Odom, who all played different roles in helping the franchise win back-to-back NBA championships in 2009 and 2010.

The number of hard feelings that each one carries from his means of departure varies. Brown, for instance, declined to pick up a player option that would have kept him in L.A. last season and found a bigger payday with the Phoenix Suns. He had a say in the way he left, unlike Fisher — who nearly became a three-time Laker this fall after being traded to the Houston Rockets in March — and Odom, one of the league's most talented sixth-men who was flipped for a mere trade exception after being included in the Chris Paul-to-the-Lakers trade that never happened due to a David Stern veto.

Even considering the boot Mike Brown received after coaching fewer than 80 regular season games, Pau Gasol has had the roughest road out of Southern California. The worst part, obviously, is that Gasol is still clad in purple and gold.

By the numbers, the Spanish big man was the Lakers' second-most productive player in 2011-12 behind (who else?) Kobe Bryant. In the championship years, too, Gasol was an important weapon for Jackson's juggernaut.

New philosophies have not been kind to him, though. New additions Steve Nash and Dwight Howard were supposed to make things easier by drawing more attention, allowing Gasol to shoot mid-range jumpers and work on his three-point range.

That's not quite how it's panning out.

Howard started slow while still recovering from back surgery earlier in the year and Nash suffered a small fracture in his left fibula when he knocked knees with Portland Trailblazers rookie point guard Damian Lillard in the Lakers' second game of the season. Mike D'Antoni, who claimed the head coaching position shortly after Brown's firing, implemented his trademark offensive system, which minimizes Gasol's role on the court by moving away from his strengths. As a result, his minutes have waned as Antawn Jamison has gained favor and, thus, playing time.

Currently, Gasol is benched while his knees rebound from tendinitis. His view from the bench is clear. He can see not only the teams entering Staples Center, but also the cities of Atlanta, Minneapolis and Toronto — the homes of three franchises rumored to have interest in acquiring Gasol. The Raptors are said to be the Lakers' most likely trade partner, but their projected package of Andrea Bargnani and Jose Calderon does not contain the shooter needed in Los Angeles. Same with the Hawks, as Josh Smith is their only relevant asset in this situation. Timberwolves general manager David Kahn has made more than his share of mistakes in the past considering Minnesota's roster, but swapping Kevin Love for Pau Gasol would be foolish in any capacity due to age, if not Love's cemented star status on a small market team.

That is without namedropping Odom, Paul, Luis Scola, Kevin Martin and Goran Dragic — other players that would have moved in the Stern-stopped four-team trade that would have landed Gasol in Houston at the beginning of last season.

Ever the soothsayer, Bryant recently weighed in on his teammate's quandary:

"Put your big-boy pants on. Just adjust. Just adjust. You can't whine about it. You can't complain about it."

To his benefit, Gasol has not complained about it. Not even when Rockets radio announcer Craig Ackerman co-opted Bryant's quote into what might end up being the greatest call of the season. Gasol's been benched, asked to play more minutes at center rather than his preferred power forward spot, been dangled over the trade scales and seen regimes change.

No complaints.

All signs point to Gasol being the first casualty of the Lakers' D'Antoni era, though. Soon, maybe, Gasol will find himself in a spot where he is expected to be more vocal; to be a leader; to not play second-fiddle; to be Pau.


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Lakers Hire D'Antoni, But Not in a Panic

Pau Gasol and Steve Nash practice Mike D'Antoni's "Synchronized Swimming" defense. (AP photo)

The Los Angeles Lakers fired Mike Brown on Friday and by Saturday afternoon it was a foregone conclusion that Phil Jackson would be returning to the head coaching job from which he had retired twice before. The word circulating was that the organization already had a handshake agreement with the 11-ringed Zen Master and pen would be put to paper yesterday afternoon.

Until Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak called Jackson and told him otherwise on Sunday evening.

Instead, the only NBA franchise with a $100 million payroll opted to hire Mike D'Antoni, a run-and-gun master and pick-and-roll enthusiast who guided new Laker Steve Nash to two Most Valuable Player awards when the point guard played under him in Phoenix.

For all the rampant scoring done and individual honors gathered those Suns runs, though, the teams' postseason appearances never breached Finals competition. More recently, D'Antoni was ousted as the head coach of the New York Knicks in favor of Mike Woodson, a man who values defense more than putting triple-digit numbers on the scoreboard.

But just because D'Antoni's never helmed a title-winning campaign doesn't mean he never will. Remember: at one point in each of their respective careers Michael Jordan, Dirk Nowitzki and LeBron James were players who could never win a ring. Then they did.

The Lakers' current lineup boasts more latent talent than any NBA team D'Antoni's ever coached. Nash, Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol are all in their 30s, but are still capable of playing at an All-Star level. Dwight Howard protects the rim better than most basketball players in the world and the best of his Los Angeles stint is probably ahead of him, when he is fully recovered from back surgery.

The bench is still an issue. The age and durability of Bryant and Nash are issues. The possibility of D'Anonti's favored PNR offense could also be problematic, positioning Gasol and Howard away from the points where they play some of their best ball.

There will not be instant success for the yellow-and-purple clad lads in Staples Center just because there's a different man in a suit sitting on the sidelines. These are all men willing to adapt, though. D'Antoni has history with two of the major cogs in the Lakers' system through his work with USA Basketball. His success with Nash is being retread time and again for stories about their reunion, and he has at least a slight familiarity with Gasol after coaching the Lakers' division rival.

Bryant is still the heart, the vocal leader of this team. A Facebook post may not mean much in the days of new media, but Bryant seems to be buying in early, no matter how much he may have wanted his old coach back.

A title isn't guaranteed, but if Jackson was asking for too much for his return, the Lakers got the second-best available option. As long as the front office doesn't trade for Carmelo Anthony, everything should be fine.


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Land of the Free & Home of the Hoops

The biggest feather-rumpling incident in basketball this week concerned Kobe Bryant asserting that he and the rest of Team USA 2012 would beat the team fielded by the States in 1992 – the famed Dream Team that *ahem* united the first year NBA players were allowed to compete in the Olympic games then proceeded to decimate any and all challengers by an average margin of 43.8 points en route to winning the gold medal.

Kobe Bryant's playoff beard grew late this year. (NBCOlympics.com)

Various members of the ’92 squad have weighed in on the discussion – largely doubting Bryant’s claim – and Kobe, in his usual fashion, refuses to stand down. While there’s never going to be a definite answer about who would win this hypothetical rivalry, one conclusion is safe to draw:

No other country plays basketball like the United States.

Sure, that statement reeks of jingoism. It’s a chest-beating, chain-rattling declaration of dominance. But it’s not a lie.

Since basketball was introduced on the Olympic level in 1936, Team USA has 16 medals total. Thirteen of those are gold, one is silver and two are bronze. Only at the 1980 games in Moscow has Team USA finished outside of the top three.

Everyone knows how good the Dream Team was, even opponents from 1992. Everyone knows LeBron James and Bryant brought home the top prize with the Redeem Team in 2008. However, less than half of these medals were won after professional athletes filled the national team’s roster. College athletes and amateur ballers residing stateside beat out pros from other countries routinely before ‘92.

The USA women’s team is no joke, either, having medalled eight times, claiming a bronze and a silver to accompany six first-place finishes.

There are plenty of stones to throw about the United States’ connection to basketball, the heaviest being that the game was invented in America. So, what? A sport’s origin and history is mostly meaningless during competition, especially in the modern era. Basketball is now one of the most popular sports worldwide, and seems to be trending upward given the popularity of international superstars such as Bryant, Marc and Pau Gasol, and upstart Jeremy Lin, not to mention the now-retired Yao Ming.

The 2012 version of Team USA already lacked size in the post, and Blake Griffin tore the meniscus in his left knee yesterday. But it still has the world’s best basketball player in LeBron, and Bryant is one of the fiercest competitors in sporting history.

No one knows for sure if this year’s group could beat the Dream Team, but after absolutely crushing the Dominican Republic by 54 points in an exhibition yesterday, it wouldn’t be wise to discount Team USA against anyone they may face in the 2012 Olympics.


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