Pau Gasol: ‘Kobe and I Are Fine’


Gasol tries to put the rumors of discord in the Laker locker room (and at home) to bed, by telling ESPN that both his relationships that came under media scrutiny in the Dallas series are still strongly intact: “Lakers forward Pau Gasol denied recent internet reports and speculation in several major media outlets that there has been any conflict between Kobe Bryant’s wife Vanessa and Gasol’s girlfriend Silvia Lopez Castro. One report even intimated that Gasol’s situation had spilled into the Lakers locker room and caused an argument between him and Bryant because Bryant’s wife became involved in Gasol’s relationship issues. On Tuesday, Gasol called rumors of a rift between he and Bryant or a breakup with his girlfriend ‘absolutely false.’ ‘My girlfriend and I are fine, we’re happy, we’re doing well. Kobe and I are fine,’ Gasol [said] in the parking lot outside the Lakers training facility Tuesday, after his exit interview with Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak and coach Phil Jackson. ‘She [Lopez Castro] was suffering because she saw me suffering. And I was suffering because I was seeing her suffering. When you add that to other stuff to what’s already happening, it’s tough.'”