Here’s the Los Angeles Times reporting on the Lakers and Pau Gasol, who like any proud veteran is not a fan of getting blown out, even at the hands of a top team like the Indiana Pacers. But this is mostly about the big picture, not one loss:
The relationship between Pau Gasol and Lakers Coach Mike D’Antoni, an uneasy truce in recent months, took a turn for the worse Tuesday.
It spilled over after the Lakers were pounded by the Indiana Pacers, 118-98, a promising first half tumbling into a predictable, if not inevitable, ending for the Lakers at Bankers Life Fieldhouse…
Eleven of the Lakers’ 15 players are in the final year of their contracts, a big problem on a losing team, no?
“Probably. That’s part of it,” Gasol said. “But that’s why you have to be disciplined and implement discipline. That’s how you kind of make that better or make that not a factor. I don’t think there’s a lot of discipline right now.”
Teammates needed to be unselfish by making sure the ball was passed to an open player, Gasol added.
“Otherwise it’s really deflating and takes a lot of energy away from individuals,” said Gasol, in the last year of a contract paying him $19.3 million this season.
