HoopsHype.com Rumors

Dwain Price: Asked today who was the best defender in the Gasol family, #Lakers F Pau Gasol said: "Apparently Marc." Marc Gasol plays for the #Grizzlies. Twitter @DwainPrice

Los Angeles Lakers, Memphis Grizzlies, Pau Gasol, Marc Gasol 

Kevin Ding: Question from @John Ireland: "Are you confident you can still win this without Kobe?" Pau reply: "Yeah. We have to be confident about it." Twitter @KevinDing

Los Angeles Lakers, Pau Gasol 

Dave McMenamin: More about that Lakers team dinner on Friday. They went to Cut in Beverly Hills. Dwight, Pau and Metta addressed the group Twitter @mcten

Los Angeles Lakers, Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Metta World Peace 

Pau Gasol: Last practice in LA before we travel to San Antonio to start off the series. We're going to have to fight every second! #SPURSvLAKERS Phil Jackson: @paugasol you…practice?…I must be dreaming Twitter

Los Angeles Lakers, Pau Gasol, Phil Jackson 

Kobe Bryant: Can the talk of trading @paugasol come to a cease now?? Twitter @kobebryant

Los Angeles Lakers, Trade, Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol 

ESPN Stats & Info: Via @EliasSports: Pau Gasol is 1st Laker since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 1978 with at least 15 Pts, 20 Reb and 10 Ast in a single game. Twitter

Los Angeles Lakers, Pau Gasol, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 

The Memphis Grizzlies (55-26) host the Utah Jazz (43-38) on Wednesday prior to the Lakers' battle against the Rockets. A Memphis win would guarantee L.A. no worse than the eighth spot in the playoffs. Has Lakers forward/center Pau Gasol called his brother, Memphis center Marc Gasol, to ask for a little help against the Jazz? "I told him to please go out there and compete and try to win the game," said Pau. Did he get a positive response? "He said, 'We'll see,' because last night they played the starters 24 minutes. They probably play the same the next game," said the Lakers' forward/center. Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles Lakers, Memphis Grizzlies, Pau Gasol, Marc Gasol 

It's an admittedly biased source, but I asked Pau Gasol if his brother Marc should win Defensive POY ... "I think he's definitely a candidate for it," Pau Gasol said about his brother, Marc Gasol, when asked about the Defensive Player of the Year race on Tuesday. "He might not be the most spectacular defender, but he's just so efficient and I think in the games we played against him, I know the type of work that he's done against us, defensively especially. You just look at the numbers, it is what it is, so he's just a great defender and I wish they could give him that recognition, but I know there's other candidates as always. But he gets steals, he gets blocks. He's an anchor for Memphis, which is one of the top defensive teams in the league." Sulia

Los Angeles Lakers, Memphis Grizzlies, Pau Gasol, Marc Gasol 

"It's huge," Gasol said. "Being in the back of the defense is so important, because you let your teammates know what's going on behind them and when they feel safe, when they feel like they have a safety behind them, they can be just so much more locked in their guy and they know if they get beat by their guy for whatever reason, they have a guy there and I think Marc is that type of player for Memphis." Sulia

Los Angeles Lakers, Memphis Grizzlies, Pau Gasol, Marc Gasol 

Pau Gasol: Shocked and sad to hear about the explosions at the Boston Marathon today. There are things that I will never understand. #PrayForBoston Twitter @paugasol

Pau Gasol, Boston 

Janis Carr: Gasol says he talked to Kobe at halftime. Kobe told him to "be aggressive" in the second half. No one else talked to him. Twitter @janiscarr

Los Angeles Lakers, Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol 

Eric Pincus: FWIW - Kobe contacted Gary Vitti who got Pau on the phone while Gasol was getting some halftime treatment - sounds like that's the timeline Twitter @EricPincus

Los Angeles Lakers, Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Gary Vitti 

The Lakers are allowed to cut one of four players on their roster without paying luxury taxes on his salary. Bryant will make $30.5 million next season. The other eligible players are Pau Gasol ($19.3 million next season), Metta World Peace ($7.7 million) and Steve Blake ($4 million). Players can be amnestied only if they were on the roster dating back to July 2011. If the Lakers waived Bryant, they would save up to $80 million in luxury taxes but would still have to pay his salary. It's unlikely they would amnesty him because of the relatively short timetable for his return. If they did, teams under the salary cap this summer would submit undisclosed bids to the NBA office to claim Bryant. He would then belong to the team that bid the highest. The Lakers could then re-sign Bryant in July 2014, after his current contract expired. Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles Lakers, Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Steve Blake, Salary Cap, Metta World Peace, Amnesty 

Pau Gasol: Kobe is an inspiration to all of us. The team is ready for the challenge. Tomorrow we have another big game against the Spurs. #GoLakers Twitter @paugasol

Los Angeles Lakers, Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Injuries 

Some of Pau Gasol's comments in the wake of Kobe Bryant's Achillles injury Friday at Staples: "It's a tough hit, a tough blow for everyone. For the ones who love him and have a great respect for him, even more. So it's a difficult time because I feel for him." Challenge of doing it without him? "It's got to be collective thing. As a team, we must regroup and understand that it's going to take a lot of effort and a lot of togetherness from now on to continue to play. It's going to take effort and re-adjusting a couple of things. With him on the court, we play differently. We'll figure it out, as long as we put our minds and our hearts in it and we fight as we did (Friday) to the end, every single minute, we should be ok, but right now it's just difficult to digest what happened." Sulia

Los Angeles Lakers, Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Injuries 

Weird to see Kobe go down? "It's hard for me to see him like that. He doesn't deserve it. It is what it is. Unfortunately, it's part of the sport, it's part of our profession. I hate that it happened to him. He works so hard and is the most dedicated guy that I ever met. And he had the courage and the strength to come out and talk to you guys." Sulia

Los Angeles Lakers, Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Injuries 

Pau Gasol: This season's been full of obstacles & difficulties. I'm sure we'll keep fighting till the very end as we have been doing. #Team #Overcoming Twitter @paugasol

Los Angeles Lakers, Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Injuries 

Dave McMenamin: Pau Gasol has tears in his eyes as he talks about Kobe: "He doesn't deserve it" Twitter @mcten

Los Angeles Lakers, Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Injuries 

Serena Winters: "I don’t have enough words to express how much I admire kobe." - Pau Gasol to @LakersReporter post-game Twitter

Los Angeles Lakers, Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Injuries 

Kobe's heavy minutes (45.7 mins over his last six games) aren't an issue for the Lakers ... "He’s been feeling fine," Pau Gasol said. "He’s not complaining. So, why would we? Right? That’s the bottom line. He’s experienced enough, he’s been through enough that he can handle it. He can handle himself. So, we’re not worried about anything at this point. We all try to give it our best and he’s doing his part." Added Mike D'Antoni: "He said he’s fine. There’s no effect. He feels good and he’s ready to go." Sulia

Los Angeles Lakers, Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Mike D'Antoni, Injuries