The Los Angeles Lakers have a complex situation in their hands after Marc Gasol has grown unhappy with his role on the team. The Spanish big man signed with the purple and gold in the offseason and was seen as a very big move for them. However, things haven’t worked for Gasol and the Lakers, who looked for alternatives, landing Andre Drummond in the buyout market.
Although he showed his willingness to help the team in any way, the player isn’t happy with his current state and after the Lakers succumbed to the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday, Marc had a lot to say about the team’s rotation and Frank Vogel.
“It’s not an ideal situation for anybody,” Gasol said, via Matt Peralta of Lakers Nation. “I’m sure that just being in that situation and not playing for a few games, nobody likes that.
“But it’s whatever the coach wants us to do and we’re gonna try to execute and do the best possible and stay ready and work the days that you don’t have a game where you’re normally planning to play. But it’s not ideal, as players you always like to know the consistency of when you’re gonna play, how you’re gonna play. But it’s a very deep team and if Coach [Vogel] wants to play three guys or two guys for one spot, it’s gonna take a lot of buying in.”
He made it clear that these decisions aren’t up to players and the coach has the last word on this. He tried to keep it cool but Gasol isn’t having the best moment on the Lakers, although he tries to be ready all the time.
“You guys are asking the wrong guys [laughs]. It’s the coach’s decision, coach’s call, he can tell you right before the game like it happened, you never know. As a player you try to stay ready all the time, try to do the same things that you do and prepare yourself as like you’re gonna play a lot. Sometimes it doesn’t go that way, so don’t ask me, I just work here [laughs].”
The 17-time NBA champions have had a lot of things to figure out in the past couple of months, especially with LeBron James and Anthony Davis out with injuries. The addition of Drummond was seen as something good for them but that’s creating some issues in the locker room. Gasol, as every other player, would like to play more minutes but he needs to make sacrifices for the team’s sake.
Against the Mavericks, he played for 18 minutes after sitting the last 3 matches. If the Lakers want to win the title, they need to fix this situation before it’s too late. AD is back, LeBron is on his way and they need the best chemistry to defend their championship.
