After trading for Dennis Schroder and surprisingly signing Montrezl Harrell, the Los Angeles Lakers rounded up a terrific offseason by signing veteran big man Marc Gasol. Obviously, LeBron James was pretty hyped about it.
However, it seems like The King still can't let go of something that happened almost a decade ago, as he didn't hesitate to reignite the debate about whether he should have been named Defensive Player of the Year in 2013 or not:
"I'm happy as hell to have big Marc Gasol (...) Marc has my Defensive Player of the Year trophy at his house, but that’s nor here nor there. I love you, Marc, I can’t wait to talk about this,” LeBron said in an interview.
Marc Gasol Says LeBron James Can Win The DPOY In 2021 If He Wants To
That's why his latest teammate didn't hesitate to fire back at his comments in high fashion. Gasol claimed that the trophy could have gone to any of his former teammates and took a friendly jab at James by challenging him to win the award in 2020-21:
“I believe that trophy is for the Grizzlies in 2013. I think the team that deserved to have that trophy was the Grizzlies. For some reason, they picked me. If anybody, the one that should have claimed that trophy was Tony Allen, from my point of view. At the same time, from the First All-Defensive Team, I believe I should be there. But I don’t, and I don’t care. We (LeBron) can have a laugh about it if he wants. If not, I’m sure he can get that this year if he wants to," Gasol said.
It's great to see that both veterans are already motivating each other to be the best version of themselves. The Lakers have built a strong core and look poised to win back-to-back NBA championships, especially if they can get even half of the defense Marc Gasol showed during his 2012-13 run.
