Throughout his career, Pau Gasol has never been known as a loudmouth or as somebody who would openly criticize his team. However, the 3rd overall pick of the 2001 NBA Draft had his limits, especially if his team was struggling to register wins.
After helping the Los Angeles Lakers win two championships (2009 and 2010), Gasol had to work double time during the 2013-14 season. With Kobe Bryant unavailable due to a knee injury, LA leaned on him, Nick Young, and Jodi Meeks to spearhead the Lakers' offense.
Mike D'Antoni was calling the shots at the time. The two-time coach of the year joined the Lakers in 2012, and the front office believed he was the right guy for the job. D'Antoni's fast-paced style of play appeared perfect for the Lakers, especially if the players bought into the system.
Gasol knew the Lakers would fall
With his offensive strategy, D'Antoni preferred to use the small-ball basketball lineups to get the Lakers' offensive game going. However, this also meant playing without their bigs like Gasol at times. One such instance happened in February 2014 when the Lakers faced the Indiana Pacers.
Opting to go small and with newly acquired players Kent Bazemore and MarShon Brooks, the Purple and Gold lost badly to the Pacers, 118-98. This drew the ire of the Spanish center, who called his teammates selfish and criticized D'Antoni's preference for small-ball basketball.
"If we want to continue to play small, we have to play to that advantage and utilize more quickness," Gasol said via ESPN. "But if we get outrebounded by 20 rebounds, I don't care who you are and what you do, it's not going to work. You're not going to win," he added.
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D'Antoni botched it
By the end of the regular season, it turned out that Gasol was right. The Lakers could never figure things out, racking up more losses than wins. In fact, they had a stretch where they lost seven straight games.
Hence, it wasn't surprising to see D'Antoni resigning as Lakers head coach after the 2013-14 season. It was the first time since 2005 that the Purple and Gold missed the playoffs. This was after LA finished with an atrocious 27-55 regular season win-loss record.
D'Anthony would look back at that run with the Lakers, admitting that there were a lot of loose ends at the time. He admitted he could not get everybody on the same page and lacked the talent to make it work in 2013.
"I just couldn't get them on the same page. They didn't like each other. It was contentious. We didn't really have the talent...It just didn't work," D'Antoni said on " The Old Man and the Three " podcast.
Since the tenure of Phil Jackson, the Lakers have struggled to find the right coach and continue their winning tradition. After D'Antoni, Byron Scott, Luke Walton, Frank Vogel, and Darvin Ham had their chances at the helm.
Vogel did deliver the 2020 title to the Lakers, while Ham helped the team win the inaugural NBA In-Season tournament in 2023. However, these were deemed not good enough for the Lakers front office.
The latest man in the hot seat is JJ Reddick. He has not been spared from criticism, especially since this will be his first official head coaching job in the NBA. Reddick will try to prove detractors wrong this 2024-25 season, hoping to turn things around for the Purple and Gold.
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