Pau Gasol Admits To “Off The Court Distractions”

Rumors had begun swirling last week that Los Angeles Lakers forward Pau Gasol‘s uninspired play this post season could be attributed to some off the court drama in his personal life. These post series comments by Gasol from Bill Plaschke of the LA Times seem to confirm those rumors, to some extent:

“I have to learn from this,” Gasol said. ”I have to learn that when something happens off the court, you have to keep it off the court.”

He was referring to the report that he stopped talking to Bryant during the postseason because Bryant’s wife, Vanessa, had contributed to the breakup of Gasol and his longtime girlfriend. Lakers fans will remember that Karl Malone once publicly accused Vanessa of interfering with his personal life in a similar fashion.

Gasol And Sylvia Lopez Castro in 2010

The rumors surrounded Gasol’s break up from his former girlfriend Silvia Lopez Castro, a 22-year-old from Barcelona, although some of the sources of the rumors were a bit sketchy (I would never consider Media take Out a trustworthy source).

The Lakers were unexpectedly bounced from the 2011 playoffs after being swept by the Dallas Mavericks, climaxing with a 122-86 embarrassing performance that featured the Mavs knocking down 20-32 from three point distance. Throughout the entire series, Gasol’s lack of hustle, focus and heart was evident both offensively and on defense, as he failed to close out on shooters or switch on the pick-and-roll in a timely fashion.

Hopefully the Lakers rebound from their disappointing 2011 playoff showing and come back with a new focus next season (and an upgraded bench). Their core isn’t getting any younger, and with Phil Jackson set to retire the challenge of returning to the glory that Lakers fans have become spoiled accustomed to will be tougher than years prior.

And hopefully Pau can learn to handle his issues in an adult manner, without letting personal life affect his on the job performance.