Pau Gasol Makes Dumb Decision and Disrespects Chris Paul, LA Rivalry Heats Up

The Los Angeles Clippers and Los Angeles Lakers rivalry has heated up since the Clippers acquisition of All-Star point guard Chris Paul.

The Clippers made their early statement by winning a pair of preseason games and the first regular season matchup between the two.

The Lakers however aren't ready to relinquish the fact that Los Angeles is anything but Lakerland just yet as evident by their 96-91 win last night.

Despite the win, the Lakers now know the Clippers are here to stay and have become a legitimate rival for Kobe Bryant and Co.

The plethora of hard fouls and trash talk last night in the Staples Center cemented the fact that this is quickly becoming one of the best rivalries in the NBA.

If the overall chippiness of the game, the six technical fouls or Josh McRoberts' ejection after getting into it with the Clippers Reggie Evans wasn't enough to to take the rivalry between the Staples Center co-tenants to another level, Lakers forward Pau Gasol accomplished that all by himself.

In a simple, but stupid gesture following the game Gasol patted the head of Paul as if he were a child or even a dog, which touched a nerve with Paul quickly.

A furious Paul responded by saying.

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"He touched the top of my head, and I didn't like that," said Paul. "You know what I mean. I don't know if Pau's got kids, but don't touch my head like I'm one of your kids. I don't know what his intentions were, like, 'I'll treat him like little Chris.' I don't know if he's got kids, but I'm not one of them."

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Gasol is the last guy in the NBA would be confused for an arrogant or dirty player. He's the last guy that would do something like that to rub a victory in the face of an opponent.

What he did though was make a very dumb decision.

Any player or fan of either team that doesn't doesn't view this as a rivalry now is fooling themselves.

After everything that happened in that game, Gasol would have been simply better served by going to the locker room. He's probably the last person anyone wearing a Clippers jersey wanted coming up to them after a tough loss.

After his bad decision, Gasol had the following to say.

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"I'm sorry he felt that way," the Spanish 7-footer said. "I do that all the time with my teammates. Nothing mean about it."

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Again it was nothing cocky or malicious from Gasol. It was just a case of a bad decision and even worse timing.

What he did though was add more fuel to the fire of this budding rivalry.

It's nothing Paul and the Clippers will forget anytime soon.

The two teams meet for the third and final time during the regular season on April 4. You can bet that Gasol's simple pat of the head will be revisited a ton in the days leading up to that contest.

It could be a meaningful game that could go a long way in determining the Pacific Division winner.

If you thought Wednesday night's game was chippy, just wait until April.

The Lakers and Clippers will take their rivalry to another level.

That's what rivalries are supposed to be like and NBA fans have Gasol to thank for giving us something to look forward to.