LA Lakers Re-Signing Pau Gasol Is Key to Keeping Kobe Bryant Happy

Pau Gasol makes Kobe Bryant happier. Happier than Dwight Howard, Shaquille O'Neal or Smush Parker ever made him, at least. 

Nearly six years, three finals appearances and two championships have passed since the Los Angeles Lakers traded for Gasol. In that time, many of Kobe's other teammates have come and gone, most notably Superman. Gasol still remains.

According to the Los Angeles Times' Mike Bresnahan, the Spaniard prefers to keep it that way:

"

It's nice to be here in the last year of my contract. I'd love to continue to play with the Lakers [next year]. We've been through so much together. Mostly amazing moments and some hard moments too.

It's like a relationship. If you're still together, it shows improved strength and consistency and how solid the relationship is. Hopefully we'll see if we can extend it.

"

Prolonging Gasol's stay in Los Angeles will take some maneuvering. Kobe will have to accept a pay cut. Gasol himself will have to accept a (steep) pay cut. Lady Luck must also be feeling especially kind.

But whatever the Lakers must do, it's worth it. Mike D'Antoni believes Gasol is headed for a career year, per Lakers.com's Mike Trudell, and talented big men are tough to find.

More than that, keeping Gasol in purple and gold is just one of the ways the Lakers can keep their 17-year mainstay happy, something they remain very interested in.

Are the Lakers Really Still Trying to Keep Kobe Happy?

Um, yes. 

Doesn't matter that he's 35 and will be pushing 36 when free agency rolls around. Doesn't matter that he's working his way back from what could be a career-crippling injury. None of that matters; the Lakers are still trying to keep Kobe happy.

When Dwight Howard wanted the Lakers to amnesty or "muzzle" Kobe, according to CSN Bay Area's Ric Bucher, in exchange for his return, the Lakers didn't grant him his wish. That Howard had the audacity to make such a request probably turned them off. Kobe's extended tenure with the team, and the often blind loyalty that comes with it, comes into play here, too.

But remember, this is the organization that hasn't shied away from making difficult decisions in the past. They broke up a ridiculously successful core when they traded Shaquille O'Neal to the Miami Heat to appease Kobe, and opted to hire Mike D'Antoni over Phil "I have so many championships, I can't type" Jackson. 

Things have certainly changed since Dr. Jerry Buss' passing, but the Lakers still function under the same slogan: championship or bust.

These are also the same Lakers who oh-so badly wanted to retain Howard. Billboards were put up and Los Angeles was "persistent" in its pursuit of the NBA's best center, hoping against hope he would lead the team into the post-Kobe Bryant era.

If Bucher's report is true, the Lakers had the ability to keep Howard and begin the post-Kobe era. Amnestying, trading or suppressing him would have netted them their prized big man. But they sided with Kobe, losing out on Howard as a result. And instead of sloshing around in self-pity or regret, they publicly committed to the Mamba beyond 2013-14.

"Kobe's made it clear that he intends to retire (as a Laker) and we feel same way," general manager Mitch Kupchak said, per the team.

Whenever you find yourself wondering if the Lakers are still bent on keeping Kobe happy and in purple and gold, look to their failed pursuit of Howard. To their open declarations.

Look to all they have done, and continue to do, for Kobe.

Ties that Run Deep

Gasol isn't Kwame Brown. Or Smush Parker. Or Adam Morris. And he most certainly isn't Howard.

Kobe likes him; he respects him. They've won two titles together and on numerous occasions, the Mamba has come to the defense of his teammate, of his friend.

"I've won championships with him; I've won playoff battles with him; I've gotten swept with him; we lost in the Finals together," Kobe told reporters of Gasol-related trade rumors and his support of the big man in 2012. "I'm not just going to sit around and let him be down in spirit and things like that. It's not cool."

His stance hasn't wavered, even slightly. He's always been in Gasol's corner.

Last spring, after the Lakers were eliminated from the playoffs and Kobe had begun the long road to recovery from his Achilles injury, he made it clear the team still needed Gasol.

"To me it's a no-brainer," he said, as quoted by Lakers Nation. "We need (Pau) to get where we want to go."

When Kobe got wind that Howard had left for Houston, who's the first player he turned to? Carmelo Anthony, in hopes of luring him to Los Angeles in 2014? LeBron James?

It was Pau.

Kobe posted a picture of Gasol and himself on Instagram, side by side, with the caption "#vamos #juntos #lakercorazon #vino," as if to say, "We don't need Howard. We're in this together."

Because they are in this together. They have been for the better part of a decade. They won two championships together. Lost in the finals together. Unfollowed Howard on Twitter together. And they should help usher in the next era of Lakers basketball, together.

"We've always supported each other," Kobe said in 2012. "We've always had each other's back. And we're always going to fight for each other."

That's as true now as it was then.

Slim Pickens

Superstars are rare forms of talent; superstars who get along with Kobe are next to mythical.

Shaq wasn't able to coexist with the Mamba, so he was traded amid a haze of controversy. Howard and Kobe had beef, so he left in free agency. The Lakers just haven't been able to pair stars with Kobe on a whim.

Relationships have soured and bridges torched because playing next to him isn't easy. When he wasn't calling for Howard to return from injury on the double last season, he was demanding Gasol change out of his onesie and into some "big-boy pants."

"Just adjust. Just adjust," Kobe said of Gasol's displeasure with being benched last December, per ESPN Los Angeles' Dave McMenamin. "You can't whine about it. You can't complain about it."

Not all teammates are going to put up with someone so competitively ruthless. They aren't going to accept being called out or chided for their decisions. Howard clearly didn't take kindly to the Mamba's authoritative persona; otherwise, he (probably) wouldn't have left an extra year and $30 million on the table to join the Rockets.

Simpleton's like Smushy-Smush couldn't even stand him.

"People ask me how it was playing with Kobe Bryant," Parker told Hard 2 Guard Radio, via Larry Brown Sports. "I said in 2008 that it was an overrated experience."

Kobe is a perfectionist. Fact. He's hard on himself more than anyone. Also a fact. He demands near perfection of his teammates, too. Lo and behold, that's a fact as well.

It takes a special kind of person to tolerate that strong personality. His competitive edge is something that can be mistaken for despotic privilege. 

Almost six years later, Gasol is able to differentiate between who Kobe is and what so many others perceive him to be. He's able to accept and embrace their partnership and treasure their time together.

"It's great," Gasol told TWC SportsNet in June. "We have a very close friendship."

Would 'Melo, LeBron and anyone else the Lakers plan on chasing next summer say the same once they're in Los Angeles and playing next to Kobe? We don't know; we can't.

But we do know this pairing has worked. That the Lakers still plan to build toward a better future with Kobe. And that keeping these two together beyond next season, no matter what else the Lakers have planned or eventually happens, will make for one happy Mamba.