NBA Rumors: Gasol Unhappy With Drummond Arrival As Career Winds Down

KEY POINTS

Marc Gasol is not too thrilled about losing his starting job to Andre Drummond
Gasol's performance has been declining, and he is left to accept a backup role
Gasol is making the most of his stint with the Lakers, possibly the last hurrah of his NBA career

Marc Gasol of the Los Angeles Lakers knows that for him to be the top dog, he needs to perform at his best. Expectations were high on him when he arrived in the offseason. However, his performance has not exactly been great, with the purple and gold still heavily relying on LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

When asked by reporters, Gasol sounded pretty unhappy about the arrival of Andre Drummond. The coming of the 6-foot-10 center means he will need to take a step back, and the 36-year-old spoke frankly about this recently.

“It’s a hard pill to swallow because I know I’m going to be out of the lineup at some point,” Gasol said to reporters, including The Athletic's Jovan Buha.

Gasol got a bit of a lifeline in the Los Angeles Lakers as a starter after Drummond was sidelined by a foot injury. However, this spell is likely to last only until Sunday, with reports saying the 6-foot-10 player may be back after one or two games.

"You're not Plan A right now. You're Plan C, D. ... You have to accept it because that's your job. And that's what you sign up to do. It's never easy to accept that," Gasol stated via ESPN.

However, the numbers that the three-time NBA All-Star delivered were hardly an improvement from his numbers this 2020-21 NBA season. He ended up with five points, nine rebounds and six assists. For the season, the one-time NBA champion owns averages of 4.8 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.1 assists. Both are far from his career averages of 14.2 points, 7.5 rebounds and 3.4 assists in 879 stints.

Gasol signed a two-year, $5.3 million deal with the Lakers and immediately got the starting nod from Frank Vogel. However, it was always believed that the 2013 NBA Defensive Player of the Year would play a supporting role similar to Dwight Howard and JaVale McGee last season when the Lakers won the NBA title.

Right now, all Gasol can do is take what is given to him. It may be a glimpse of things to come until next season. Looking at his performance, the chances of him drawing interest from other teams are not exactly high. He may need to lower expectations for now and just play his best when his number is called by Vogel.