By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Two-time NBA champion Pau Gasol doesn’t really enjoy some aspects of today’s game in the league and believes that it lacks teamwork and tactical approach.
Here’s what Gasol said to Spanish network Movistar:
“There are high scores, dynamic play, 3-pointers… these are widely promoted. It’s what is rewarded now. Even NBA commentators who have played the game say that defense has disappeared. That it doesn’t matter. It’s about watching who scores more. I don’t quite like that the essence of the game is lost, which is playing as a team, moving the ball, that there’s balance between inside and outside game. A little more tactics. Before, you would shoot in the first eight seconds of a possession or take a 3-pointer in transition without an offensive rebounds and they’d send you at the bench so you could think about it a little.”
Gasol recently had his #16 jersey retired by the Los Angeles Lakers, honoring the Spanish big man for his contribution to the franchise. Gasol arrived at the Lakers in 2008 and played a pivotal part in the team returning to the Finals in 2008 and winning back-to-back championship titles in 2009 and 2010. Throughout his seven-year run as a Lakers, he averaged 17.7 points, 9.9 rebounds and 3.5 assists over 429 games.
“It was very special,” Gasol said. “A huge, magical emotional charge. Very intense. I lived it in a very strong way, I tried to savor it to the fullest. I felt something that I had not felt in my sports career. Very thankful. They are very special things that one lives, including everyone who has accompanied them in person or from home. I hope you could feel the magnitude of the moment. It is one of those times in life when you say ‘I have lived something special'”.