Pau Gasol on state of Los Angeles Lakers: ‘We are who we are right now’
By Hayden Kane
The Los Angeles Lakers are now 16-28 on the season. Pending something miraculous, they will miss the playoffs and any sense of relevance for the 2013-2014 season is far in their rear view mirror after losing Kobe Bryant to another injury.
It all must feel like a bad dream for Pau Gasol. Constantly the subject of trade rumors the last number of years, he ended up staying in L.A. and being forced to labor along with the rest of what is now a decidedly mediocre team.
Gasol is not happy about the situation, and he expressed as much after the team’s loss to the Orlando Magic on Friday night (quotes from ESPN LA):
"We are who we are right now…Some nights are better than others but, bottom line, when you lose against the worst teams in the league, you got to ask yourself why and, kind of, what does that make you?”"
A dependent player, Gasol is still finding success in terms of individual statistics: he is averaging 16 points and 10 rebounds a game. He would surely trade a few points per game, however, for more help and to be on a team that matters.
If you’re going to bad in the NBA, you might as well bottom out and be really bad. The Lakers are doing just that, sitting ahead of only the Utah Jazz in the Western Conference standings.