The Los Angeles Lakers have brought in amazing levels of talent and veteran pedigree to their roster, replacing their players lost to free agency and then some. The Lakers added Montrezl Harrell, Dennis Schröder, and Wesley Matthews, bringing even more excitement to next year than what would have been had if the Lakers brought back everyone from their 2019-20 roster. Still, the Lakers are shipping out championship experience for those players, all of whom haven’t won a championship in the NBA. The Lakers did add one player who has championship experience, in a name that is familiar to the Lakers. That player is, of course, Marc Gasol.
As Christian Rivas of Silver Screen & Roll notes, Marc Gasol may have primarily wanted to return to his Toronto Raptors, as Gasol commented on not returning to the team by saying, “That’s just the way, sadly, this business goes”. He may have ended up in a better situation in the end, saying the following about why he chose the Lakers in free agency (also per Christian Rivas of SS&R):
“I don’t think there’s just one thing that kind of made me decide,” Gasol said. “But it boiled down to a chance of winning another championship and contributing to a team that is already really good … Having a sense of being part of a great team, and seeing how the coach and the GM and everyone saw that I could contribute to that. That, to me, said a lot. A team that just want a championship pitching those ideas to you, that to me was was awesome.”
Marc Gasol will be itching to get back on the court for the Lakers, as he did not play well in the bubble for the Raptors. He noted that it “didn’t go great” for him personally, but he can easily put that all behind him once the season opens as many believe he could very well be the starting center for the Lakers this season.
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