Life must suck for Pau Gasol right now. When you really sit back and think about it, how would you feel if you were in his position today? Picture if your boss walked into your office a month or two ago and told you that you were being transferred to Houston to a completely different branch of your company because they wanted to clear some space for someone that they liked better than you. Then, imagine that he walked in shortly after that and told you that you weren’t in fact moving to the Houston branch because the head of the company had vetoed the idea. Then, consider what it’d be like to come into work every day since then—all while rumors swirled that you might be on the move sometime in the near future because your boss really, really wanted someone else in his office and knew he’d have to transfer you in order to make it happen. Like I said, how would you feel?

I am by no means a Los Angeles Lakers fan—I hate them actually—but I feel bad for Gasol right now because he’s essentially stuck in that position. The team tried to trade him to the Houston Rockets in the ill-fated Chris Paul-to-the-Lakers deal. Then, they welcomed him back rather coldly when the deal fell through. Ever since then, he’s been the subject of damn-near a dozen different NBA trade rumors. And yet, he still has to come to work every night and be a big contributor for the Lakers. It’s no wonder Kobe Bryant just called the Lakers front office out and told them to either trade Gasol and get it over with—or shoot down all the trade rumors and end the speculation once and for all.

“It’s hard for Pau because of all this trade talk and all this other stuff,” Kobe said. “It’s hard for him to kind of invest himself completely or immerse himself completely into games when he’s hearing trade talk every other day. I wish management would come out and either trade him or not trade him…I’d rather [they] not trade him, but if they’re going to do it, [expletive] do it already. If you’re not going to do it, come out and say you’re not going to do it.”

Kobe has a point here. And, because of the pull that he has as the undisputed leader of the Lakers, I’m glad he stepped up and said something in defense of Gasol. By now, I hoped you’ve thought about what it’d be like if what’s happening to Gasol happened to you at your job. Chances are, you’d quit or even ask to be fired if your job treated you with the amount of disrespect that the Lakers are treating Gasol with right now. But he doesn’t really have that option. If he quits, he’s the one that’ll be labeled the bad guy. And, if he demands a trade, it’ll sounds like he doesn’t want to play in Los Angeles anymore. It’s a lose/lose situation for him. Plus, Lakers fans expect him to play like he’s the second-best player on the team every night, which is very difficult with all of the circumstances surrounding him right now.

It’s why it was important for Kobe to step up and say something in defense of him. Now, we’ll have to sit back and wait to see how the Lakers respond—if they respond at all. But, either way, some of the pressure that was on Gasol before is off of him today, because he knows that he has the support of his most high-profile teammate. Hopefully, that’ll force the Lakers’ hand and force them to make a decision about Gasol’s future. But, even if it doesn’t, Gasol’s life doesn’t suck nearly as much as it did before.

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