Kobe Bryant likes to tell people he does not have time for friends. Not in the usual way, but most people have friends in whom they talk regularly or take a meal when they are in the same part of town.
Bryant, who has always been on the brand, even tagged the slogan “Friends hang sometimes, banners hang forever”.
Pau Gasol heard him say all the time.
“Yes, he would always say, ‘I do not have time for friends. I’m too busy to perform, is the best out there or greatness. I do not have time for the sentimental things,” Gasol said. . “He would say it in public, and there was some truth to it. But … ‘
Gasol knew the truth.
Among all the difficult conversations was a sensitive father to four daughters who would always be there when Gasol called.
“He’s the closest to a big brother I’ve ever had in my life,” Gasol said.
They did not take selfies with them when they would meet for dinner in the later years of their careers, or after Bryant retired from the NBA in 2016. The only trace of how close the relationship between Bryant and Gasol was is mostly in the form of #hermano – Spanish for brother – hashtags on Twitter or Instagram.
Gasol did not need the call. He already knew how close he and Bryant’s friendship was. But he’s proud to have got Bryant to open up and show the world his side.
“You could see his toughness, his gravel, his desire, his hunger, the Mamba mentality … But he also had a very friendly, very loving side.”
Pau Gasol on Kobe Bryant
“You could see that his toughness, his gravel, his desire, his hunger, the Mamba mentality is the best at all times, working harder than anyone else,” Gasol said. “But he also had a very friendly, very loving side.”
In the final stages of his career, Bryant dropped the veil just as slightly and showed the world what Gasol had done.
“I’m naturally more inclined to show my gentleness on a personal and emotional level, and I think that’s maybe that’s what I influenced him about in some way,” Gasol said. “I would say, ‘It’s good to be normal sometimes or be kind and vulnerable or gentle. We don’t have to be so hard all the time and be on point all the time.'”
Matt Barnes did not know it was Gasol who had Bryant opened up, but he must have noticed like hell when it started happening.
“I remember one time we were in a bus in Phoenix and I asked Kobe, ‘Why can the rest of the world not see how cool you are, mother — er? ‘said Barnes, who played with Bryant and Gasol from 2010 to ’12. “I literally asked him the question in front of everyone. And Kobe was like, ‘I can’t show this to these mothers.’
“I think it was part of the whole Mamba mentality. But when you let him sit, or if you could penetrate the wall first, you know, Kobe was cool as s —. But he had to let you see that side. ‘
It’s still hard for Gasol to talk about Bryant’s death. Call January 26 and Gasol’s thoughts run back to the moment he first heard of the helicopter crash that killed the former Los Angeles Lakers big, his daughter Gianna and seven others.
He was in Spain at the time, while his wife, Cat, was driving home when her phone started receiving news alerts and text messages.
“You start getting into this trance where you are completely frozen,” he said. “You’re just sitting in complete shock. You can not believe it. I still did not want to believe for days, weeks.
‘You still thought Kobe could have come out of the accident with his own feet and carried his daughter – and if there were still survivors – to the hospital.
“We had the perception of him as strong, as that invincible. If anyone could survive it, it was him.”
Gasol said he was numb and sad for days and was shocked at the same time. But he knew very quickly what he had to do.
‘We just booked a flight [to California]”he said.” We decided we needed to be there and we left. We did not know if we would leave for a week, two weeks or a month, but we had to be there.
“We wanted to be close to Vanessa and the kids and be there as Uncle Pau for everything they need.”
Pau Gasol on the days after the helicopter crash
“We wanted to be close to Vanessa and the kids and as Uncle Pau be there for everything they need.”
The Gasols stayed near the Bryants home in Orange County for several months, visiting the family regularly and trying to support them through the unimaginable tragedy.
Uncle Pau sent Vanessa flowers about what the couple’s 19th wedding anniversary would be in April and a birthday cake on what Gianna’s 14th birthday would be in May.
The Gasols and Bryants went on a boat trip through San Francisco Bay in August, dressing up as Halloween for Star Wars characters. And when the first child of Gasols was born in September, they named her after Gianna.
“My daughter’s full name is Elisabet Gianna Gasol,” he said. ‘It’s a way to not only honor Gianna, but to always have them present. They are our family and in what way can you have them more present than having them on your daughter’s or your son’s?
“We had more problems with her first name than with her middle name. It represents so much, the name. The kindness, the heart that Gianna had, the talent, just with the toughness she showed. Her father and her mother in her it’s something that means a lot to us, and that’s why her name is Elisabet Gianna. ‘
Gasol has gone to Gianna Bryant’s basketball games over the years and watched her talent blossom.
“She could have changed women’s basketball,” Gasol said. “Hopefully it will still happen, but she was so meaningful, which was important to the game in what she could mean. So I think it’s up to us to have her present and not let her death take away from the influence that she could not influence. “
This is where Gasol now finds comfort, almost a year after the deaths of Kobe and Gianna.
There is still sadness and shock. He says he will never ride in a helicopter.
“Every time I see one, it just causes me,” he said.
But Gasol said he knows he is doing exactly what his older brother would like: to look after Vanessa and her three daughters and help others learn from the legacy Kobe and Gigi left behind.
“He deeply cared about sharing his knowledge, inspiring others, touching people’s lives,” Gasol said.
Bryant’s connection to others reminded Gasol of the way he first connected. They knew each other early in their careers as competitors because Bryant won championships with Shaquille O’Neal in LA and Gasol tried to get the Memphis Grizzlies over the hill.
Then a chance encounter changes the course of both their lives. In the summer of 2007, the Bryants stumbled upon Gasol while on vacation in his native Barcelona while working out in their hotel gym.
“It’s crazy how it happened,” Gasol said. ‘There were talks about him leaving the Lakers and possibly moving to Chicago. There were also conversations about me because I wanted to be in a different situation than back then in Memphis, and the direction the franchise was taking.
“So I said, ‘Well, maybe one day we’ll play together. You never know. ‘In my mind I could not register the Grizzlies who traded me with the Lakers, but when I thought a few months later that it just would not happen, I ended up with him and the Lakers in a perfect spot. time where things just clicked and immediately came together, and we had incredible times. ‘
However, there was no celebration after the beautiful mid-season trade, which would lead to three consecutive NBA Finals and two titles for the Lakers.
No, Bryant knocked on Gasol’s door of the hotel room at 1:30 in the morning and told him what it was going to be like.
“I landed in Washington the first night to join the team, and after my physical he comes to my room to say to me, ‘Hey, I’m very excited to have you. Very glad you’re here “But now let’s win a championship,” Gasol said.
“I mean, it just does not become clear anymore. He made sure I knew immediately where he stood. There’s no confusion: ‘This is what I want. This is where I am, and this is where I will be you. need to be. Now, are you going to go for it? Are you going to be on board, or not? “
LPG was ready.
“I really wanted the chance,” he said. “It was my chance, and I would not waste it.”
During their first game together, Bryant was even more on point. He fed Gasol early to get him going and spoke to him regularly in the Spanish language – so that their opponents could not understand them – and he had the demanding nature in general every minute of every game in the six plus seasons sustained. played together.
“He can be tough. There is no doubt about it, ‘Gasol said.
This is a great way to put it.
“There will be times when I have to put my arm around Pau and tell him it’s going to be okay,” Barnes said. ‘Because [Bryant] would make up the mother in any language you can imagine. ‘
This is how Gasol Bryant will be remembered as a player. The grain, the determination, the direct shots through the media (remember that the whole Black Swan-White Swan narrative spun Bryant to motivate Gasol to be more aggressive and physical?).
But that’s not how he will remember his older brother.
“It looks like our relationship has merged for some reason,” Gasol said. ‘And now, after his loss and that of Gigi, it brought us so much closer to what he meant to me, who he was, what he provided for my life, and of course his family and now my family, like me consider it.
“He was someone I will miss for the rest of my life, but I will be present in everything I do.”