Marc Gasol played in just 52 games last year after undergoing surgery to repair a non-displaced Type II fracture of the navicular bone in his right foot. Taking a more cautious approach, Gasol has agreed to rest some games during the season and did so on Tuesday night against the Cavs, which was the first night of a back-to-back against the defending champs.
The rest issue has become a hot topic throughout the NBA and Gasol said that he doesn’t like resting “one bit” and would much rather be out on the floor.
From USA TODAY:
“I don’t like it. I don’t like it one bit,” Gasol said. “It’s not my decision or anywhere close to my decision.”
“You bite your tongue, say ‘Yes, sir,’ have a glass of wine and try to sleep a little bit,” Gasol said. “Obviously, you’ve got to buy into it. I still don’t like it. I don’t like to rest. But you have a lot of guys spending a lot of time looking at the data so you’ve got to trust them. These are guys with a lot of experience and education on it. They know better than I do.”
Gasol also admitted that he gets “angry” while watching games at home:
“Nothing against [Grizzlies TV commentators] Pete (Pranica) and Brevin (Knight), but I watched it on mute,” Gasol said. “You suffer, you get sweaty, you get angry. You watch and you don’t talk too much. Then comes dinner and I’m not talking at dinner. It’s not fun.”
Last night against the Cavaliers, Kevin Love, LeBron James and Kyrie Irving all didn’t make the trip to Memphis.
