Pau Gasol Enjoying a Career Rejuvenation with Chicago Bulls

CHICAGO—Pau Gasol can’t remember the last time he played this much.

After the Chicago Bulls’ 132-129 double-overtime loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday, in which he logged 50 minutes, the 34-year-old Gasol was racking his brain trying to remember his last workload like that.

“I played a 56-minute game once, when I was in Memphis,” he said. “I’ve played a lot of games in my career.”

If it seems like a heavy load for someone his age, Gasol didn’t show it. After seven years with the Los Angeles Lakers, Gasol came to Chicago hoping for a change of scenery, and the move has revitalized his career.

Gasol knows what it’s like to be in a winning environment. After being traded to the Lakers in 2008, he helped Los Angeles make the Finals three years in a row and win two championships. But by the time he hit free agency this summer, things had run their course there. The team was no longer contending, and Gasol himself suffered through a couple of disappointing, injury-plagued seasons.

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“That’s why I came [to Chicago],” Gasol said after the game. “To rejuvenate myself, re-energize myself. To be motivated again. I wanted to be challenged. I wanted to be in a winning situation.”

So far in Chicago, it’s been a renaissance. Through 15 games, Gasol is averaging 20 points per game (his highest total since the 2006-07 season) and 11.2 rebounds (his most since 2009-10).

On Tuesday night, Gasol at times single-handedly kept the Bulls in the game. He scored Chicago's first six points of the second overtime and finished with 29 points and 14 rebounds.

“Pau’s having a terrific season,” Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said. “He’s doing a little bit of everything. His rebounding is fantastic, and having a guy who can score the way he can is a plus for the team.”

Gasol was the Bulls’ summer consolation prize after their much-publicized pursuit of Carmelo Anthony fell short. But he’s proving to be arguably an even better fit with this roster than Anthony would have been. Gasol and Joakim Noah make up the best-passing frontcourt in the NBA, and Gasol is a threat to score on the block and from mid-range. He’s proven to be a perfect interior complement to Jimmy Butler’s rapid offensive improvement on the wing, and his presence gives the Bulls the most dangerous, diverse offense they’ve had in years.

Now that Derrick Rose is healthy and playing regularly, he and Gasol have developed deadly pick-and-roll chemistry.

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“It’s basically unstoppable,” Rose said. “We need to run it more. But Pau’s been huge for us.”

The Gasol the Bulls have seen early in the season looks much more comfortable than the version of the four-time All-Star that was playing out his final years in Los Angeles on a team that didn’t fit him. Gasol never clicked with Mike D’Antoni, and following the Lakers’ first trip to the lottery in Gasol’s time there, it was simply time for him to move on.

Gasol’s health also left some question marks this summer. Throughout his tenure in Los Angeles, he dealt with various groin and foot injuries and missed a combined 55 games over his last two seasons. Between that health history and his advanced age, even the most optimistic projections couldn’t have foreseen him playing this well.

Thibodeau saw this revitalized Gasol as far back as this summer, when Gasol played for the Spanish national team in the FIBA World Cup and Thibodeau was an assistant coach for Team USA.

“Pau was banged up in LA,” Thibodeau said. “He had some great years in LA, too, the championship years. And I thought he had a great summer, and then he came into camp in great shape. When you look at the conditioning component of a player, when he’s in great shape and he practices hard and he concentrates, he’s going to perform well.”

The Bulls signed Gasol to be a secondary scoring option and bolster an already deep frontcourt, but they’re relying on him even more than they originally planned. With Taj Gibson out and Joakim Noah limited to about 30 minutes a night coming off summer knee surgery, Gasol has unwittingly stumbled into an iron-man role. He missed three games of the Bulls’ recent seven-game road trip, but his 35.9 minutes per game are more than he averaged in either of his last two seasons with the Lakers.

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So far, the heavy minutes haven’t affected Gasol’s performance. He’ll be able to rest more when Gibson returns and rookie Nikola Mirotic develops. Even Tuesday’s marathon didn’t affect him more than any of his teammates.

“Everybody is fatigued,” he said. “In that situation, both teams are playing under the same conditions. I would feel better if we had gotten the win.”

The Bulls didn’t get this win, but there are many more of those in their future. In the twilight years of a Hall of Fame career, he’s found a new home that has given him a new life.

Sean Highkin covers the Chicago Bulls for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter @highkin