“I’m still very unathletic”: Marc Gasol jokes about how his COVID infection did not affect him all too much ahead of the Lakers’ win over Cavs last night

Marc Gasol hilariously outlines how COVID affected him in his return to play last night; says he’s still very much unathletic. 

Following their 2020 championship victory, the Los Angeles Lakers seemed to have wanted to bring some of the ‘Gasol charm’ back to La La Land in the offseason to help further boost their odds at repeating.

With Pau Gasol having brought two chips to the Lakers, the front office hoped Pau’s younger brother, Marc Gasol, would bring about the same level of success. 

Fast-forward to today and the Marc Gasol experiment hasn’t quite worked out all too well. The 36-year-old has been posting up 4.8 points per game in nearly 20 minutes of play, all while averaging a measly 1.9 assists in that timespan.

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He has also regressed sufficiently on the defensive end of the floor as he is too slow to keep up with guards, and too unathletic to challenge bigs as the rim. 

After having missed several weeks due to Safety and Health Protocols, Gasol made his return to play last night in a big win over the Cleveland Cavaliers. 

Marc Gasol addresses his lack of athleticism

Ahead of the Lakers’ win over the Cavs, Marc Gasol talked about how it would feel to be back on NBA hardwood once again. In a hilarious exchange, Marc Gasol was asked how contracting COVID affected his play on the court. Gasol, in deadpan fashion, replied, “I’m still unathletic so the infection didn’t affect me much.”

Marc Gasol, deadpanning, after playing his first game back for the Lakers after being in the COVID-19 health and safety protocols for several weeks: “I’m still unathletic so the infection didn’t affect me much”

— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) March 26, 2021

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A silver lining to the Gasol signing has been his chemistry with off-ball cutters from the high post or even from beyond the arc. Gasol is a master at finding the right angle for backdoor cuts to get the ball through a bevy of defenders.

However, other than his feel for the game and the fact that he’s a decent screener for pick-and-pops, he does not bring much else to the table. This is why guys like Hassan Whiteside and more prominently, Andre Drummond, have been placed in rumors, linking them to the purple and gold.

Whiteside wasn’t bought out by the Kings so that ship has sailed, but Drummond is still very much a possibility as he did get bought out by the Cavs. If he were to sign with the Lakers, expect to see a massive dip in Gasol’s numbers going forward.