Mike D'Antoni and Pau Gasol are not each other's biggest fans right now nor have they been all season. The veteran center has spoken out numerous times over the coaching methods of D'Antoni. The Los Angeles Lakers coach has downplayed the comments in the past, but after another night venting to the media, D'Antoni is now calling out Gasol for not being a team player.
Gasol made headlines on Wednesday when he publically criticized D'Antoni for his defensive play calling in the loss to the Indiana Pacers and also his failure to instill discipline to the Los Angeles roster. Gasol was upset that the head coach stuck to a small lineup over the significantly larger Pacers group and told reporters that the team simply could not win games like that moving forward. D'Antoni is now telling Gasol to keep all complaints in house.
"The thing I just don't appreciate ... You just keep it in-house," D'Antoni said, via ESPNLosAngeles.com. "It's very easy just to come over and talk about your frustrations. We'll try to work something out. We'll figure something out. But to go to (the media) and to do it in the papers, that's disturbing. I just don't think that's the way to go and people should understand that we're all trying to solve the same problem, so let's just put our heads together and do the best we can."
Gasol spoke with the media following the game against the Memphis Grizzlies and downplayed his complaints from the previous night. He chalked everything up to frustration given the team is 19-39 and sitting in last place in the Western Conference, 14 ½ games back from a playoff spot. Gasol said his comments were not meant to be a big deal and it was simply just emotions getting out.
As for the discipline comments, Gasol complained that with 90 percent of the team's roster signed to contracts expiring at the end of the year, there is no motivation to play well. He blamed the head coach for not pushing players further, something D'Antoni does not understand.
"I have no idea what he's talking about," D'Antoni said. "(Tuesday) night, like (Gasol) said, we should have had more ball movement, but I don't know what that has to do with discipline. It has to do with guys trying too hard, guys not really understanding the system totally and not really getting ingrained into it and so I think in that aspect, I can understand what he's talking about, but I don't know why he used that word."
The Lakers season is all but done and Gasol is well-aware of that. His ongoing feud with the head coach will likely play a large factor in whether or not he re-signs in free agency. Gasol is sounding more and more like a player headed for the open market rather than remaining in Los Angeles.
