Exclusive - 'Without Pau Gasol, that's not happening': Former Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak praises big man ahead of Hall of Fame Induction
The NBA executive oversaw moves that resulted in Pau Gasol experiencing both success and frustration with the Lakers.
Former Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak acquired Gasol from the Memphis Grizzlies leading into the 2009 trade deadline in exchange for Kwame Brown, Aaron McKie, Javaris Crittenton, two first-round picks, and the rights to Pau’s brother Marc, who the Lakers drafted with a second-round pick in 2007. The move resulted in the Lakers winning two NBA championships (2009, 2010) out of three Finals appearances (2008-10).
“To be in the Finals three years in a row, without Pau Gasol, that’s not happening,” Kupchak told Sportskeeda.
Seven months after the Dallas Mavericks swept the Lakers in the 2011 Western Conference semifinals, the Lakers traded Gasol to the Houston Rockets as part of the deal that would land Chris Paul from the former New Orleans Hornets. But as acting owner, former NBA Commissioner David Stern nixed the deal and Gasol stayed with the Lakers. Through the next three seasons, Gasol then weathered trade rumors, different roles under coaches Mike Brown (2011-12) and Mike D’Antoni (2012-14). as well as various injuries. Gasol then signed with the Chicago Bulls as a free agent (2014).
“He got through it,” Kupchak said. “But I’m sure he never forgot it.”
With Gasol being inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on Saturday, Kupchak spoke to Sportskeeda about acquiring Gasol from Memphis, the Lakers’ instant success, Gasol’s chemistry with Kobe Bryant and how Gasol handled the fallout from the nixed Paul deal.
Sportskeeda interview with Mitch Kupchak on Pau Gasol and his time with the Lakers ahead of Hall of Fame induction
Editor’s note: The following 1-on-1 interview has been condensed and edited
How do you contextualize Pau’s 6 ½ seasons with the Lakers that had two distinct chapters – the first with plenty of success and the second with various challenges to overcome?
Kupchak: “There’s no doubt that he was a Godsend when we traded for him. Andrew Bynum had just gotten down. The moment we got him, we just took off. The next few years, we won championships. Then, the trade happened. Those are tough decisions that teams have to make. It was tough when the trade was rescinded or undone. Both Lamar [Odom] and Pau were brought back to the Lakers. I’m sure, in their mind, it was enough that they had been traded. But now to come back, it was very difficult, much more so for Lamar. Pau worked his way through it. He got through it. But I’m sure he never forgot it. Then when he became a free agent, we tried everything we could to try to bring him back and he chose to leave. I’m sure in the back of his mind, it would’ve been nice if he ended his career as a Laker. But he ended up going to Chicago. But certainly for him to be in the Finals three years in a row, without Pau Gasol, that’s not happening.
What did you make of the commentary at the time that the Gasol trade was lopsided?
Kupchak: “When the story broke, we saw a lot of that. In the negotiations, they kept on asking for more and more with another first-round pick, $3 million and then wanting one or two second-round picks that we had the rights to. It seemed like it was never going to end. But when the story broke, there was a lot of talk that it was lopsided. Personally, I wasn’t comfortable because Chris Wallace, the GM at the time, I liked him and respected him. It didn’t seem fair.
Lo and behold, two years later, that second-round pick that they wanted that we gave them turned out to be Marc Gasol. Something at the time seemed so lopsided ended up being pretty fair. That’s the NBA. There’s often an immediate perception, whether it’s the draft or a trade, especially with young players. You really have to wait for a couple of years. We were in the hunt for a championship. Memphis was not. They were entering a rebuild. There are different ways to go about it. We got what we needed. A year or two later, they got what they needed.
After you acquired Gasol, when did it become clear to you that he was the missing piece for the Lakers’ title run?
Kupchak: “You never know. You just don’t. During the negotiations, Memphis kept coming back and asking for more and more and more. We kept on giving more and more. There were times where you actually say and start to wonder, ‘What else are they going to ask for and is it going to be worth it?’ You don’t know. I remember when we brought him to LA and we went to meet with him when he was getting his physical. He talked about his back and that it was an emotional time for him to be traded. He had a back problem. Even then you say, ‘Oh boy, is this going to work? But then that first game, it was seamless. I’m watching it on TV in LA, and you could tell they were a different team. It just got better and better and better. But when you’re doing the deal, sometimes you just don’t know.
After we did the deal, Kobe called me up and he was excited like a kid. Phil [Jackson] is kind of stoic. But I do remember talking to him the day before. He had no idea we were going to do the deal until the night before. I told him that I thought the next day that we’d be able to get a deal done. He just kind of looked at me and said, Huh?’ It was an honest look. He said, ‘Really?’ I said, ‘Yeah, it’s not done yet.’ But then he turned around and walked away. He took it one way and Kobe took it another way.
Why did the Pau-Kobe dynamic work so well?
Kupchak: “I thought Phil did a great job with keeping the team in general happy at each position. Kobe was hard on his teammates. He pushed them. I know with Pau, I felt at the beginning, Kobe was particularly hard on him. Kobe wanted to win. He realized that this was how he was going to win. Pau was younger and hadn’t been through the wars of the playoffs and didn’t know what to expect. In Kobe’s mind, he didn’t have forever. He wanted to get this done now. So he pushed him and drove him. Initially, it was hard on Pau. But ultimately, they ended up having one of the best relationships ever. The first couple of games was something different. But that’s the regular season. In the playoffs, that’s when times get tough and you need somebody to push you. Kobe was doing the pushing.”
Where does Pau’s Game 7 performance vs the Celtics in the 2010 Finals rank compared to his other games?
(Gasol finished with 19 points, 18 rebounds and four assists)
Kupchak: “There were so many good regular-season games and playoff games. But Game 7 [tops it]. That was not a game that was won with enormous amounts of skill. Nobody shot the ball well. Nothing was going in. Everybody was getting fouled. The referees weren’t calling anything. It was a low-scoring game. If it would’ve been in Boston, maybe it would’ve been different. But it was at home. Pau just willed. He just willed the way through three games. Pau and Kobe led the way, and Metta made those key shots. But it wasn’t one game where one guy shot the ball incredibly well. It was a hard game. If you weren’t a basketball fan, you might say, this is not good to watch. But being a basketball fan, you can just see how hard they’re playing. They have the will to win. I can certainly name several that played well. But Pau was certainly at the top.”
After the Lakers’ second-round loss to Dallas, how did you weigh the pros/cons of trying to acquire a young player (Paul) over keeping the same core together?
Kupchak: “I would have regularly scheduled lunches with Dr. [Jerry] Buss [the Lakers’ former owner until his passing in 2013]. He always wanted to be one step ahead. He always talked about, ‘If we’re going to make a trade, it’s better to make it a year too soon than a year too late.’ Those are really hard things to do, those kind of decisions. In that case, that was a big part of it. We had gotten beaten in Dallas. We were getting older. This was a way to inject a young All-Star. It was a hard decision. But Dr. Buss always tried to stress, ‘Rather than wait a year or two too late, it’s better to go a year too early.’”
How did you see Pau handle the aftermath with that?
Kupchak: “He was hurt emotionally. I talked to him afterwards. But what are you going to say? It’s hard. This is a business. It’s hard. Emotionally, he was hurt, understandably so. He loved the success and the time he was in Los Angeles. It was a big shock to him. He worked his way through it. But I’m not sure he ever got over it.”
How much have you stayed in touch since his free-agency departure?
Kupchak: “I’ve seen him a lot since then. He was with us for three years afterwards. I bumped into him during the offseason. I called and texted when he got Lakers’ jersey retired. I’m not sure if I spoke to him. But we’re in different places with our lives. We don’t cross paths as much as we once did. But yeah, I think our relationship is pretty good, at least I hope so.”
How did Pau adjust to the different roles under Mike Brown (2011-12) and Mike D’Antoni (2012-14)?
Kupchak: “With Phil, the offense was tailor-made for him and Kobe. The players bought in. When we made coaching changes, each coach brought their own style. They didn’t run the triangle. Mike D’Antoni looked at the game differently. Mike Brown looked at the game differently. In particular with D’Antoni, Mike was encouraging Pau to go to the corner and start shooting 3s. Pau was kind of like that’s not my game. I think initially he resisted. But then within a year or two, he was out there shooting 3s as much as his brother was. The game was beginning to transition from the game that was played 15 years ago to the way the game was played now. D’Antoni in Phoenix and George Karl lived the charge. But we weren’t there yet. It was an adjustment.”
What do you expect Pau’s Hall-of-Fame speech will be like?
Kupchak: “I’m looking forward to his induction speech. It will be well thought out. It’ll be emotional. He’s got that soft spot. It’ll be hard for him, but it will be well thought out. It will come from the heart. So I’m looking forward to it.”
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