How did Gasol, who helped Kobe Bryant win two consecutive championships and was abandoned by the Lakers in 14 years, how did he develop? In the bull glows a second spring

There is no 24th in the rivers and lakes

2024-05-25 21:24Posted in Henan Sports Creators

Preface

For many old Lakers fans, the 12-13 season is definitely a season they don't want to remember too much. This year, although the team had four top stars, Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard, Pau Gasol and Steve Nash, they ended up in seventh place in the West due to injuries, age and tactical issues. What's worse is that this year, team owner Jerry Buss died, Kobe Bryant broke his Achilles tendon in order to get a playoff spot, and finally the Lakers were swept by their old rival Spurs in the first round of the playoffs under various bad circumstances, bidding farewell to that season.

Looking back on that year, in addition to Kobe's regrets, his old partner Pau Gasol also sacrificed a lot, Howard's arrival forced him to give up the low post and play more of a blue-collar and deputy role in the tactical arrangement, and the result was that the 32-year-old played a career-low 13.7 points, 8.6 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 1.2 blocks, and missed a full 33 games due to injury.

Therefore, it is also embarrassing that there are even extreme fans who think that the team should send Gasol away. In fact, Gasol did leave the Lakers in 2014, so where did Gasol go later? What about his development, let's talk about it below!

Joined the Bulls with a low salary, but had a second spring!

Because Howard had a lot of conflicts with Kobe Bryant at the time, and he himself was not satisfied with the Lakers' tactical arrangement and his own team positioning, so in the summer of 2013, Howard, who became a free agent, chose to join the Rockets, which greatly weakened the strength of the Lakers.

Because this year, Kobe Bryant was plagued by an Achilles tendon injury and was almost in a state of season reimbursement, so Gasol was the team's number one core for most of the time, although he still handed over 17.4 points, 9.7 rebounds and 3.4 assists, and the Lakers also gave a 2-year $23 million and 3-year $29 million contract extensions respectively, but Gasol still chose to refuse, and Gasol has since bid farewell to his Lakers career and became a free agent. Gasol's purpose is simple, that is, to take advantage of the fuel tank to attack the championship again. As a result, he decided to join the Bulls and accepted a three-year, $22 million contract from Chicago.

However, to everyone's surprise, it was expected that Gasol would play the role of third and fourth man in the Bulls, but he actually had a second spring and successfully became the core of the interior under Tom Thibodeau.

In the 14-15 season, he averaged 18.5 points, 11.8 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.9 blocks per game, and performed extremely well, whether it was a low-post offense, an interior axis, or a defensive end to protect the frame, he had the flavor of the Lakers' peak back then, and finally he helped the Bulls get an excellent record of 50-32, and also became the Eastern Conference All-Star starting center that year, and entered the All-Second Team.

In the 15-16 season, at the age of 35, he was still able to contribute 16.5 points, 11 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 2 blocks, and was selected to the All-Star team for the second year in a row.

Join the Spurs for Duncan, become Bobo's henchman!

In the two seasons of the Bulls, Gasol's performance was obvious to all, but the lack of hope for consecutive championships made the Bulls have lost patience, and they sent away Derrick Rose in the summer of 2016 to build a team around Jimmy Butler, and Gasol realized that the Bulls had no hope of winning the championship, and did not choose to exercise the player option and became a free agent. Once again, he became a favorite in the free market, and eventually he returned to the West and joined the Spurs.

At that time, the Spurs were greatly damaged due to the retirement of Tim Duncan, and the acquisition of Gasol this time also largely made up for the vacancy after Duncan's departure. What's even more unexpected is that under Popovich, Gasol actually developed a three-point shooting, and throughout the 16-17 season, he averaged 12.4 points, 7.8 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.1 blocks per game, making a total of 56 three-pointers, and successfully helped the Spurs achieve a proud record of 61-21.

This year's Spurs were very champions, under the leadership of Kawhi Leonard, they went all the way to the Western Conference playoffs and successfully met the Warriors in the Western Conference Finals, but Zaza Pachulia's kick ruined the future of the Spurs and shattered Gasol's dream of a third championship.

After that, Leonard struggled with injuries for a long time, and at the same time broke out with the team, and finally chose to leave, and Gasol as he got older, his contribution on the court became more and more limited, and in the 17-18 season, he slipped to 10.1 points, 8 rebounds, and 3.1 assists, and the Spurs also lost their previous dominance, and were swept out by the gentlemen after only 5 games in the first round of the playoffs this year.

Returned to Europe from the NBA and successfully completed his retirement.

In the middle of the 18-19 season, Gasol and the Spurs reached an agreement to complete the buyout of his contract. After becoming a free agent, Gasol joined the Bucks and the Trail Blazers, but after only three games with the Bucks, he suffered a stress fracture of his left navicular bone and had to undergo surgery to cancel the season. After that, Gasol's time in the NBA entered the countdown.

In 2020, at the age of 40, Gasol chose to return to Europe, to Barcelona, to the place where his dream began. After a few years, Gasol still showed extraordinary strength when he returned to the European basketball scene, and with his help, the Barcelona men's basketball team successfully defeated the old rival Real Madrid men's basketball team in the 20-21 season and won the La Liga championship again. After winning the last title of his playing career, the 41-year-old Gasol had no regrets and finally held a press conference in Barcelona to announce his retirement and say goodbye to his basketball career with a smile.

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