Pau Gasol played in the NBA for 18 seasons and had the fortune of teaming up with many incredible players in that time. That fact made choosing an all-time lineup of himself and four former teammates during an appearance on the Knuckleheads Podcast quite a difficult task, but Gasol managed to build a formidable starting five.
“Let’s go with Kobe (Bryant), let’s go with Giannis (Antetokounmpo), even though I played very briefly with him,” Gasol said. “Between Kawhi (Leonard) and Jimmy (Butler), I’ll probably go with Jimmy even though Kawhi at his prime [was] incredible. I guess I’ll go with Tony (Parker).”
There aren’t too many players in NBA history that could come up with a lineup as good as that one. What’s incredible, though, is that you can actually come up with another strong starting five, with how many great players missed out here. First let’s take a look at this team, though.
After much deliberation, Gasol chose Tony Parker as his point guard. Parker averaged 15.5 points, 2.7 rebounds, 5.6 assists, 0.8 steals, and 0.1 blocks per game in his career, making six All-Star and six All-NBA teams along the way. Parker also won four championships and was named Finals MVP in 2007.
Kobe Bryant was Gasol’s pick at the shooting guard spot and this was the most obvious selection. Bryant averaged 25.0 points, 5.2 rebounds, 4.7 assists, 1.4 steals, and 0.5 blocks per game in his storied career. He won five titles (two with Gasol), two Finals MVPs, an MVP, and two scoring titles and is one of the all-time greats.
Gasol went with Jimmy Butler as the small forward and that was an interesting choice. Butler has averaged 18.3 points, 5.4 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 1.6 steals, and 0.4 blocks per game in his career. He has made six All-Star, five All-NBA, and six All-Defensive teams so far.
Giannis Antetokounmpo got the nod at power forward from Gasol and he is another pick you can’t argue against. Antetokounmpo has averaged 23.8 points, 9.9 rebounds, 4.9 assists, 1.1 steals, and 1.2 blocks per game in his career. He has won a title, a Finals MVP, two MVPs, and a DPOY.
So, in all, those are some great selections. As for the notable names who missed out, it’s a very long list. You have the likes of Kawhi Leonard, Derrick Rose, Steve Nash, Manu Ginobili, Dwight Howard, Joakim Noah, DeMar DeRozan, LaMarcus Aldridge, and Metta Sandiford-Artest. There are others you can name as well and Gasol sure can’t complain about not having help in his NBA career.
Pau Gasol Played The ‘Start-Bench-Trade’ Game
Gasol was asked to play the “start-bench-trade” game here as well. The players given to him were Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, and Rasheed Wallace, three men with whom he had many battles during his career.
“That’s a tough question but I guess I’ll start with Timmy,” Gasol said. “Timmy and KG are both at that same level for me and I appreciate games in a very similar way… I’ll bench KG and I’ll trade Rasheed.”
Gasol hailed Wallace as a great player and stated he had a lot of respect for him. He was always going to be the one traded, though, with Duncan and Garnett being the other two options. As for Gasol starting Duncan, he is widely regarded as the greatest power forward of all time, so there isn’t much room for debate.
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