The Regime Posted March 14, 2010 Report Share Posted March 14, 2010 PHOENIX – Privately, people wonder: How many more passes does Kobe Bryant(notes) give Pau Gasol(notes) for speaking so boldly about him? How long until Bryant’s public and private reprisal comes with a ferocity that could bring a 7-footer to his knees? All season, Gasol has been a relentlessly consistent, if not passively aggressive, critic of the franchise star’s shooting habits, of an offense that doesn’t deliver him the ball with the frequency that he wants. Whatever the reasons, Gasol has been emboldened to speak his mind. Whatever the odds, Bryant has bit his lip and let it go. “I believe in what I believe,” Gasol said. Hours before Friday night’s victory over the Phoenix Suns, chatting on a chair inside U.S. Airways Center, Bryant let out a laugh and insisted there will be no public rebuttals. “I’m not touching that,” Bryant said with a smile and shrug. Bryant could come out and say that Gasol had never won a playoff game until arriving to the Lakers. He could tell Gasol that the Lakers still had the NBA’s best record without him for a month to start the season. He could tell him to make a free throw in the last minutes of tough games, tell him to toughen up. Truth be told, Kobe Bryant could tell Pau Gasol to simply shut the bleep up. Only, Bryant doesn’t do it. Tempted? Well, of course. Yet, the reason for such restraint is simple: The Lakers desperately need Gasol, and a public chastising of him would almost assuredly reduce his fragile psyche to rubble, costing Bryant the player he needs to catch Michael Jordan and his six championship rings http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=aw-kobelakers031310&prov=yhoo&type=lgns Pau seriously needs to shut the [expletive] up, all this complaining is starting to get annoying. Kobe did the right think by not confronting him and just letting the matter be, there is a larger goal for us and arguements arent going to get us anywhere at this point in the season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owner Real Deal Posted March 14, 2010 Owner Report Share Posted March 14, 2010 Kobe's the man. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legacy Posted March 15, 2010 Report Share Posted March 15, 2010 Haha, Kobe's pretty smart for that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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