09.09.2008 11:56

Quality jump with Pau Gasol

The Los Angeles Lakers were the runners up in the last NBA league. The arrival of the ex-Barça player Pau Gasol to the team trained by Phil Jackson and led by Kobe Bryant brought out the best in the team.

To talk about the Los Angeles Lakers is to talk about one of the most important teams in the NBA’s history. The fourteen championship rings proves this, and the fact that authentic legends of basketball like Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul Jabbar or Magic Johnson have worn the yellow shirt. Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol are the most representative players of the current squad that reached the final last season.

Kobe Bryant, Magic’s heir

Nostalgics of the mythic team of the 80’s, which, led by Magic Johnson, won five rings, the Lakers finally found his successor in Kobe Bryant. The escort, along with Shaquille O’Neal, took the team back to the top from 2000 to 2003. After the powerful pivot left, Bryant became the reference for Los Angeles.

Kobe Bryant was the MVP of last season. He has won three rings, was top scorer in the league twice, has played twice for the All Stars, he won a smash contest, he achieved the second highest score in a game (81 points), and won the gold medal in Peking among many other feats.

Another team with Pau Gasol

The trajectory of the Lakers in 2007/08 was pretty irregular until the arrival of Pau Gasol on the 1st of February 2008. The ex-Barça player strengthened the inside play and the morale of a team which would end up heading the classification of the Western Conference. In the play-offs, the team managed by Phil Jackson put out the Nuggets (4-0), Jazz (4-2) and the Spurs (4-1). In the final the Californians fell to the Celtics (4-2).

Present team

Bryant and Gasol are well accompanied by the veteran base Derek Fisher and the winger Lamar Odom.

The Catalan pivot is one of the few foreigners in the squad. The other Europeans are the Slovenian Vujacic and the Serbian Radmanovic although they also have a Congolian (Ilunga-Mbenga) and a Chinese player (Sun Yue).