Over the last couple weeks, Pau Gasol has played very inconsistently. The entire Lakers team has struggled at times, but Gasol has had some particularly streaky shooting nights. With his name at the center of several trade rumors, many people believe Gasol has been having trouble focusing. Kobe Bryant is one of those people. In fact, he sounds extremely frustrated with the Lakers front office for leaving Gasol to wonder about his future.
“I wish management would come out and either trade him or not trade him,” Bryant said after the Lakers loss Sunday according to the L.A. Times. “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, but if they’re going to do something, I wish they would just … 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 and go out and can perform and play and he can invest all of himself into the game. You can’t have one of our pillars not knowing if he’s going to be here or not. Do something. One way or another, do something.”
Obviously, it’s not that simple. The Lakers don’t want to say they aren’t trading Gasol, because they need to listen to offers. They also don’t want to lie and tell him he isn’t going anywhere while continuing to shop him around. On the flip side, the front office doesn’t want to let their star forward know if they plan to deal him. If they are unable to work something out, that’s how feelings are hurt. Hurt feelings would not help the team down the stretch this season.
