The pitiful crybabies and conspiracy theorists started bawling from the moment of Gasol’s arrival until about a month ago because they knew.
They knew what Gasol’s presence meant for that hungry Laker team desperate to return to prominence.
Gasol’s stellar play and his half-rockstar, half-biblical-12-disciples look revived that Laker “swag” that had been missing since that dreadful 2004 offseason.
Everything from Gasol’s subtle flair to the seamless way he fit into the offense showed Laker fans everywhere that they were witnessing history.
Gasol’s presence represented a quick and drastic change for a team that everyone had counted out.
Gasol now represents everything that has gone wrong.
Who knows? Maybe 2011 was never going to be the Lakers’ year, regardless.
Memphis or Oklahoma City would have put this hungover Laker team out of its misery with as much ease as Dallas did and it’s safe to say that LeBron James and Dwyane Wade are already a historic duo.
No team in their right mind would choose to face off against those two in the NBA Finals.
Maybe the level of competition in the NBA had simply risen past the Lakers. Maybe.
But because of Pau Gasol we will never know for sure.
The Lakers could have gotten Gasol’s 13 points and 7.8 rebounds per contest from at least 30 other players in the NBA.
Those numbers simply were not going to get the job done for the second option on a team with title aspirations.
It’s not even as though Gasol had been going up against great ...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Los Angeles Lakers
