“Used to Get So Mad”: Nick Young Discloses Pau Gasol’s Utter Dissatisfaction with Former Lakers Coach

It’s no secret that the mid-2010s Los Angeles Lakers were a mess, even before Kobe Bryant went down with a torn Achilles in 2013. As if the back-breaking injury wasn’t enough to dampen the team’s hopes to contend, Pau Gasol’s tenure in L.A. began to sour once the franchise brought in Mike D’Antoni as head coach.

The former All-Star’s longtime teammate with the Lakers, Nick Young, shared just how frustrated Gasol became once his new head coach tried to implement his patented “Seven Seconds or Less” offense.

“When we was playing, I remember Pau Gasol used to get so mad at D’Antoni because all we did was run-and-gun,” Young shared on Gil’s Arena. Gasol, who had long established himself as a prominent low-post force, was disgruntled by his lack of involvement in the new offense and the extra running he was forced to endure.

D’Antoni’s system worked with the smooth Steve Nash and explosive Amar’e Stoudemire running the show during their time with the Phoenix Suns. But the veteran coach insisted on making his tactics work with a more traditional center in Gasol, who wasn’t shy about showing his displeasure.

“He never threw it in the post, so he’d get mad because all he gotta do is run down, get the rebound, and run back… Get some cardio,” Swaggy P continued.

The pairing was not a long-lasting one, as the Spaniard departed for the Chicago Bulls after D’Antoni’s only full campaign in 2013-14. The veteran head coach lasted less than two years in Los Angeles before resigning, while Gasol revitalized himself back into an All-Star big man at age 34.

Considering the statistical dips he suffered under the coach’s tutelage, Gasol’s vocal criticisms of D’Antoni appear to have some merit.

Pau Gasol publicly criticized D’Antoni in 2013

The Hall of Famer had also publicly criticized D’Antoni just months into his second campaign with the team.

Gasol didn’t hold back when discussing how the new coach was misusing his skillset, evidenced by a then-career low 13.7 scoring average in 2012-13. The veteran dismissed D’Antoni’s notion that post ups were the least efficient set to run, underlining how his lack of touches was directly impacting his aggressiveness.

“What do you think? I’m not going to say anything, but it’s easy to see. You see a guy with a certain skill set, where does it fit better, where it doesn’t,” Gasol had said.

With so much tension between the pairing in such a short span, it doesn’t come off as much of a surprise that the Lakers went 27-55 during their lone complete season together.