Gasol Deserves Newest Label

After coming from behind to for their 83-79 win in last night's Game 7, the Los Angeles Lakers secured title #16. Kobe Bryant now has another ring, his fifth, and second consecutive Finals MVP. Now that Kobe has one more ring than former teammate Shaquille O'Neal, life is gratifying. With the off-court feuding between the two during the Lakers three-peat of 2000-2002, Kobe's thirst for a ring without the Diesel was almost blinding. Even in basketball, where only 5 guys are the court at once, you need a supplement.

Shaq and Kobe share three NBA titles...
and the All-Star Game MVP from '09.

Jordan had Pippen. Magic had Kareem and Worthy. The whole Shaq and Kobe show. Dwayne Wade then had Shaq. Tim Duncan had Manu and Tony Parker. You need that "other" guy.

And who's that other guy for the Lakers? Ron Artest? Sure, he had an excellent Game 7, but at times Artest looked beyond lost in the triangle offense. Andrew Bynum? The whole injury issue has severely limited his role the past two postseasons. Derek Fisher? Fisher isn't really a point guard (as I have previously pointed out), but there's hardly a grittier player in the NBA. That leaves Pau Gasol.

My apologies, Pau. I honestly thought KG would have enough in his tank to overrun you. Reality check here (for me and others). No Pau, no back-to-back titles. Plain and simple.

After the Lakers acquired Gasol from the Memphis Grizzlies on February 1, 2008 (a trade in which the Grizzlies franchise is still spinning), Gasol aided in the Lakers getting to the 2008 NBA Finals against the hated Boston Celtics. The Lakers loss in that series was painful. Gasol didn't play so well and there was a tag placed on Pau: soft. He showed very little physicality in the series.

Gasol has averaged 18+ points and 10+
rebounds in each of the last two NBA
Finals series.

As much as people want to look at this back-to-back title run as being Kobe's, you must affix Gasol's name to those as well. Not to do so would be a travesty and a misjustice.

In the last two title runs, Bryant has led the Lakers in scoring and assists. That will get you an MVP (or two), but who was the Lakers #2 man in those stats? Both times it was Gasol. Go beyond that. Gasol led the Lakers in rebounding and blocks. He can score. He can board. He can play defense. Gasol is a double-double machine and a valuable cog in the Lakers machine. What I found interesting, sometimes even offensive, is that when Gasol wasn't going for 18 and 12, the "experts" were quick to point to Gasol and say he didn't show up to play. That is another undeserved tag.

Gasol's contributions are still going widely unnoticed. It's all about Kobe, and that's wrong. There may even be a few that leave the "soft" tag on Gasol. That's also wrong, but that one can be removed. But there's another tag that Gasol now bears that can never be removed: two-time champ.

And that's a tag Gasol has quietly, and honestly, earned.