After Pau Gasol’s tough game on Sunday in which he shot just 4-11 from the field and watched the final minutes of his team’s 113-103 loss to the Orlando Magic, Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant had a message of tough love for his teammate.
“Put your big boy pants on. Just adjust,” Bryant told the Los Angeles Times. “You can’t whine about it. I’m 34 years old. I’m running screen-and-rolls out there. Steve (Nash) is out and my [tail] is running up and down the court more than I have my entire career. You have to adjust to it. I stay after practice and work on my ball-handling, my screen and roll.”
Gasol has had trouble finding his rhythm with Dwight Howard in the post in new coach Mike D’Antoni’s offence.
He sat on the bench watching the final six minutes of the loss but was smartly political about being replaced by Antawn Jamison in crunch time.
“I don’t get irritated,” he said “It’s upsetting for me as a player, but I don’t allow it to irritate me. Coach makes his decisions and you’ve got to respect them.”
