The Los Angeles Lakers are coming off an ugly loss to the Phoenix Suns, where they trailed by as many as 27 points before faltering to a 102-90 loss to drop to 5-11 on the road. For the past month or so, many fans have been frustrated with Pau Gasol and they want everyone to trade him.Since the vetoed Chris Paul trade, Pau Gasol has been involved in many trade rumors lately. Most recently, there were rumors of the 31-year-old veteran heading to the Houston Rockets.
Kobe Bryant told the media today that the Lakers' management should either trade the ten-year-pro, or they don't.
"Basketball is such an emotional game, you got to be able to have all of yourself in the game and invested in the game. We didn't have that," Bryant said. "Pau, it's hard for Pau because of all this trade talk and all this other stuff, it's hard for him to kind of invest himself completely or immerse himself completely into games when he's hearing trade talk every other day. I wish management would come out and either trade him or not trade him."
Bryant thinks that the Lakers should not trade him, as he is who helped Bryant win his fourth and fifth championships. Gasol had 17 points and twelve rebounds in that awful game versus Phoenix.
"I talked to (Gasol) a little bit about it," Bryant said. "It's just tough for a player to give his all when you don't know if you're going to be here tomorrow. I'd rather them not trade him at all. If they're going to do something, I wish they would just (expletive) do it. If they're not going to do it, come out and say you're not going to do it. This way he can be comfortable, he can go out, he can play and he can invest all of himself into the game."
Gasol has also expressed interest to remain a Laker.
"So, we got March 15th, the (trade) deadline," Gasol said. "That's what I'm thinking (about). Hopefully we get to that day (without a trade). Obviously if something was told to me before, it would be good, but I'm not trying to force things. I'm not trying to force a team, 'If they want to trade me, trade me tomorrow.' Because obviously I still believe in our team, I believe in our city and I believe that we can continue to be a special, special team and a successful team."
Pau Gasol has been averaging 16.6 points and 10.7 rebounds so far this season. If you were the Lakers, would you trade him?
