Kobe Bryant liked to tell people he didn’t have time for friends. Not in the conventional way, most people have friends where they talk regularly or eat when they are in the same part of town.
Always with the brand, Bryant even marked the slogan: “Friends sometimes hang, banners hang forever.”
Pau Gasol heard him say it all the time.
“Yeah, I would always say,‘ I don’t have time for friends. I’m too busy getting there, being the best out there or getting great. I don’t have time for sentimental things, ”Gasol said.“ I would say it publicly and there was some truth. But …”
Gasol knew the truth.
Beneath all that hard speech, there was a sensitive father with four daughters who would always be there when he called Gasol.
“He’s the closest thing to an older brother I’ve ever had in my life,” Gasol said.
They didn’t take selfies together when they met for dinner during the final years of their careers, or after Bryant retired from the NBA in 2016. The only trace of the degree of esteem in Bryant and Gasol’s relationship went away. produce mostly in the form of hashtags #hermano (Spanish for brother) on Twitter or Instagram.
Gasol didn’t need the shout. I already knew how close Bryant and he were. But he’s proud to get Bryant to open up and show the world this side of him.
“You could see his toughness, his desire, his desire, his appetite, the mentality of Mamba … But he also had a very kind and very affectionate side.”
Pau Gasol to Kobe Bryant
“It was seen that his toughness, his desire, his desire, his appetite, Mamba’s mindset: being the best at all times, working harder than anyone,” Gasol said. “But he also had a very kind and very affectionate side.”
In the later stages of his career, Bryant began to drop the veil so slightly and let the world see what Gasol was doing.
“I’m more naturally inclined to show my softness from a personal and emotional level and I think it’s something that maybe I’ve influenced him in some way,” Gasol said. “I would say,‘ It’s okay to be normal or act kind and vulnerable or gentle at times. We don’t have to be so tough all the time and keep up to date all the time. “
Matt Barnes didn’t know it was Gasol who had gotten Bryant to open up, but of course he realized when it started to happen.
“I remember once we were on a bus in Phoenix and I asked Kobe,‘ Why doesn’t the rest of the world see how good you are, mom mom? said Barnes, who played with Bryant and Gasol from 2010 to 12. “I literally asked him this question in front of everyone. And Kobe told me,” I can’t show these mothers …
“I think that was part of all this Mamba mentality. But when he got you to let go of the guard, or once you could penetrate the wall, you know, Kobe was as cool as … lets see that side.” .
It’s still hard for Gasol to talk about Bryant’s death. He mentions January 26 and Gasol’s mind goes back to the time he first heard the crash of a helicopter that killed the former big Los Angeles Lakers, his daughter Gianna and seven other people.
He was then in Spain with his now wife, Cat, who was driving home when his phone began receiving news alerts and text messages.
“You start getting into that trance where you’re completely frozen,” he said. “You’re stuck in a total shock. You can’t believe it. Still days, weeks ago, I still didn’t want to believe it.
“You still thought Kobe could have come out of that accident on his own feet and taken his daughter – and if there were any other survivors – with him to the hospital.
“We had this perception of him as strong as that invincible one. If anyone could have survived, it was him.”
Gasol said he cried for days, asleep and heartbroken and shocked at the same time. But very quickly he knew what he had to do.
“We just booked a flight [to California]”, He said.” We decided we had to be there and left. We didn’t 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, like Uncle Paul, for whatever they needed.”
Pau Gasol in the days following the helicopter crash
“We wanted to be close to Vanessa and the kids and be there, like Uncle Paul, for whatever they needed.”
The Gasols remained near the Bryants’ house in Orange County for several months, often consulting with the family and trying to support them through the unthinkable tragedy.
Uncle Paul sent flowers to Vanessa what would have been the couple’s 19th wedding anniversary in April and a birthday cake what would have been Gianna’s 14th birthday in May.
The Gasols and Bryants took a boat trip down San Francisco Bay in August and dressed up as Star Wars characters for Halloween. And when the Gasols’ first child was born in September, they christened her Gianna.
“My daughter’s full name is Elisabet Gianna Gasol,” he said. “It’s a way, not just to honor Gianna, but to always have them in mind. They’re our family and how can you have them more present than having them in your daughter’s or son’s name?”
“We had more problems with her first name than her second name. It represents a lot, the name. The kindness, the heart that Gianna had, the talent, just with the toughness she showed. Her father and mother in she is something that has a lot of meaning to us and that is why her name is Elisabet Gianna “.
Gasol had gone to Gianna Bryant’s basketball games over the years and watched as her talent flourished.
“It could have changed women’s basketball,” Gasol said. “I hope this continues to happen, but it was so significant, so important to the game in what it could have meant. So I think it’s up to us to have your present and not let your death take what could have been impacted. “
In this Gasol finds comfort now, almost a year after the deaths of Kobe and Gianna.
There is still sadness and shock. He says he will never go by helicopter.
“Every time I see one, it just triggers me,” he said.
But Gasol said he knows he’s doing exactly what his older brother would have wanted him to do: find Vanessa and her three daughters and help others learn from the legacy Kobe and Gigi left behind.
“He was deeply concerned with sharing his knowledge, inspiring others and touching people’s lives,” Gasol said.
The fact that Bryant wanted to connect with the others reminded Gasol of the way he had first connected with him. They were known as competitors early in their careers, as Bryant won championships with Shaquille O’Neal in Los Angeles and Gasol tried to get the Memphis Grizzlies above the hump.
Then a chance encounter changed the course of their two lives. In the summer of 2007, the Bryants ran into Gasol while on holiday in his hometown of Barcelona, while working out in his hotel gym.
“It’s crazy how this happened,” Gasol said. “There were conversations about his departure from the Lakers and the possibility of him being traded to Chicago. There was also talk of me, because I wanted to be in a different situation from Memphis at the time and the direction the franchise was taking.
“So I said,‘ Well, maybe someday we’ll play together. Who knows. “In my mind, I couldn’t record the Grizzlies who negotiated me with the Lakers, but after a few months, when I thought it wouldn’t happen, he did. And I ended up with him and the Lakers perfectly. in which things clicked and came together right away and we had amazing moments. ”
Still, there was no celebration after the impressive mid-season trade, which would result in three straight appearances in the NBA Finals and two titles for the Lakers.
No, Bryant knocked on the door of the hotel room in Gasol at 1:30 in the morning and told him how it was going to be.
“I landed in Washington that first night to join the team and, after my physique, he came to my room to say,‘ Hey, I’m so excited to have you. I’m so glad you’re here, but now we’re going to win a championship, ”Gasol said.
“I mean, it’s just not clearer than that. He made sure he knew right away where he was. There’s no confusion, ‘That’s what I want.’ This is where I am, and this is where you will need to be. Now, will you participate? Will you go on board or not? ‘”
Gasol was ready.
“I badly wanted the opportunity,” he said. “This was my chance and I wouldn’t waste it.”
During their first game together, Bryant was even more on point. He fed Gasol early to get him up and running and often spoke to him in Spanish on the court, so that his opponents could not understand them, and he generally maintained this demanding naturalness every minute of every match in the six more seasons they played together.
“It could be tough. There is no doubt about it,” Gasol said.
It’s a good way to say it.
“There would be times when he would have to go, putting his arm around Paul and telling him he was going to be fine,” Barnes said. “Because [Bryant] cuss that motherf — er in any language you can imagine. “
This is how Gasol will remember Bryant as a player. The grain, the determination, the direct shots through the media (remember the whole Black Swan-White Swan narrative that Bryant turned to motivate Gasol to be more aggressive and physical?).
But that’s not how his older brother will remember.
“Our relationship seemed to be meant to come together for some reason,” Gasol said. “And now, after his loss and Gigi’s, he brought us much closer to what he meant to me, who he was, what he provided to my life and obviously to his family and now to the my family, as I consider them.
“He was someone you’ll miss for the rest of my life, but I’ll make him present in everything I do.”