Pau Gasol, Kobe Byrant, Los Angeles Lakers
Getty
Pau Gasol #16 of the Los Angeles Lakers looks on during the game against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Staples Center on December 25, 2009 in Los Angeles, California.
The Los Angeles Lakers had immense success with the duo of Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol. They went to three straight NBA Finals, winning twice in 2009 and 2010.But even with that success, the Lakers were stilllooking for a way to improve.
Speaking with Dave McMenamin of ESPN, Gasolrevealed his thoughts on a potential Carmelo Anthony trade that would have had amajor impact on the team and league for the following decade.
“Obviously we had a great run, three straight years,” Gasol said. “(But) players with different skillsets add something…You can’t really think about who else you would have loved to play with, if (we) would have had Carmelo.”
Gasol also spoke about Anthony’s career as a whole, with the forward being named one of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame inductees for 2025. Anthony played for the Nuggets, Knicks, Thunder, Rockets, Trail Blazers, and eventually closed out his career with the Lakers, finishing 10th on the NBA’s all-time scoring list with three Olympic gold medals.
Gasol On A Potential Anthony To Lakers Move
In 2011, Anthonywas traded from the Denver Nuggets to the New York Knicks, but according to him, a potential move to Los Angeles was originally in play. Speaking on Dwyane Wade’s podcast earlier this summer, Anthony said that it was a ‘done deal‘ that he was going to become a Laker.
“The deal was done with the Lakers. Me and Nenê for Lamar Odom and Bynum,” Anthony said. “That deal was done. I never thought about New York.”
Now, discussing Anthony’s Hall of Fame career, Gasol commented on the potential move when asked by McMenamin.
“I don’t know (how) exactly that possibility could have happened,” Gasol said. “But the coulda-shoulda-woulda’s are always interesting, because it’s all imagining of what could be in a different situation with certain people.”
During that 2010/11 season, Anthony was in the prime of his career. He was averaging 25 points on 45% shooting, but adding him to the Lakers’ lineup with Bryant as theirmain scorer would have been abig change to whatLos Angeles was used to over the past decade.
Gasol also commented on the potential Chris Paul to the Lakers trade that never came to fruition. He said that regardless of whether either of these tradeswere ever finalized, the Lakers team led by him and Bryant would have looked a lot different compared to the one that was on the court.
Praise Of Anthony’s Hall Of Fame Career
Though an Anthony to Lakers trade never came to fruition, the former NCAA champion’s success in the NBA spoke for itself. Now one of the newest inductees into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, Gasol discussed some of the aspects of Anthony’s game that make him deserving of the honor.
“Melo was justa very difficult guy to guard,” Gasol said. “I saw a player whowas determined, who was hungry, who wanted to continueto not just establish himself but really position himself in a different category. He was always a very aggressive offensive player.”
Offensively, Anthony was one of the best players in the NBAthrough the first 15 years of the millennium,even with the immense talent in his generation. His isolation scoring was top-notch, he was always liable to drop 40 on any given night, and he was very consistent, mostly during his time in Denver and New York.
Gasol believes that, besidesjust his scoring, Anthony’s versatility was what separated him from other forwards, whetherit was in the NBA or international play.
“(He) waskind of more of that stretch four, the guy who can play the three and four position…Really taking advantage of his physicality, his body, his strength,” Gasol added. “Not just a prolific scorer, but him and Kevin Durant have a unique ability with their size, with their skillset, with their mindset, of really changing the game.”
Anthony’s 28,289 total points are the 10th most in NBA history. He was previously the USA’s leading scorer in international play before Durant broke his record in 2024, but his three gold medals are tied for the second-most ever. Anthony is a six-time All-NBA and ten-time All-Star honoree, and won the 2003 college basketball national championship with Syracuse.