RealGM

http://www.marca.com/2009/09/28/balonce ... 34303.html

It's just a brief interview but he hints he may not play the World Championship with Spain next year. Translation for that particular question (I'm at work, can't do the whole thing right now)

Even though it's too early to talk about the World Cup in Turkey, do you still have the will to keep winning titles with the national team?
I have the will but I have had a very big workload for the past years and my body is requesting some rest and oxygen. If I keep playing this many games it will take a toll on my body and I won't be able to play. There will be times in which I will have to make a difficult decission, because everybody knows how much I enjoy playing with Spain. If I want to keep playing at this level and keep a long career, I must pace myself.

Also, notice the haircut and the trimmed beard... maybe he's setting the example so that Sasha won't complain .

Full interview:

This season you were selected for the All Star game, got an NBA ring and the gold medal in the Eurobasket. Has this been the best year in your life?
Sure. On a professional and basketball level it's been the best and most successful year in my career. This is due to many years of hard work from me and my teammates, and I'm very happy that I got to live such a special year.

You're a very loved person and anywhere you go your presence there causes tremendous commotion. Is it possible to feel the heat from your fans?
It's comforting when people admires and loves you. They show it everywhere I go and that motivates me to keep working hard and win more titles.

Even though it's too early to talk about the World Cup in Turkey, do you still have the will to keep winning titles with the national team?
I have the will but I have had a very big workload for the past years and my body is requesting some rest and oxygen. If I keep playing this many games it will take a toll on my body and I won't be able to play. There will be times in which I will have to make a difficult decission, because everybody knows how much I enjoy playing with Spain. If I want to keep playing at this level and keep a long career, I must pace myself.

How do your teammates in the Lakers feel about your success with the national team?
I haven't had a chance to talk to any of them. I had a couple of e-mails with Phil Jackson. I would like to have some rest but the reality is that I have to go back. This season is full of excitement and a very big challenge that excites and motivates me.

The Lakers lost Ariza but got Ron Artest. Is the current roster better or worse than last year?
I don't know if the roster is as good or not. Ariza did an excellent work and helped us get where we got. We'll see if Artest contributes the same way Ariza did. Can't tell for now, but perspectives are pretty good.

thanks. looks like that handsome man come back, love it.

Nice, Lakers are gonna be all-business this year. 70+ wins, book it.

I think he'll skip the World Championships.The only reason he played this year for Spain is that he didn't have the European Title in his repertoire.But he's already a World Champ and I think he knows he doesn't stand a chance with USA in the tournament.IMO we won't see Gasol play for Spain till the Olympics in 2012 which is a very good thing considering the guy has played every year(except 2005)for his national team since 2000

I agree ^^.

It's about time Gasol got some rest. I'm glad he participated in the EuroBasket tournament this past summer and won an MVP for himself and a title for Spain, but he has to start thinking about elongating his career now that he's won the hardware. The only thing left for him to accomplish is a gold medal in the Olympics.

Very excited about this upcoming season. Can't wait for the season to start

Gasol 1st team all nba. BTW that's supposedly his wife as my AVI, lol.

Hyral wrote:Nice, Lakers are gonna be all-business this year. 70+ wins, book it.

Booked!

Curb your enthusiasm sig is great

Season 7 baby Do a new Laker episode PLease

One of my fav shows!!!

What a classy guy. We're so damn lucky to have him.

I hope Phil limits his minutes early on because he was starting to drag at the end of last season constantly playing 40. With healthy Bynum I think we need to keep the rotation more even to where Bynum is getting 30-35 and LO and Pau are around 30. Hopefully we will have a lot of blowouts

I love this team, I love how we have so many intelligent and classy players like Pau, Kobe, Fish... some of our young guys need to take notes but the overall quality of our team seems high. None of us know these guys on a personal level, but I feel like we have a group of 'good' guys. Even our less 'smart' players like LO and Ron are pretty nice upstanding guys when you dig into them. They've had their share of mistakes sure, just like Kobe, but for the most part they seem pretty decent considering all the money and glitz of the NBA, especially in LA.

Makes me glad I'm not a fan of like Boston with their thugs and bad attitudes and my hometown team of the Nuggets, who's players annoy me more then they inspire.

Wish Pau would just tell spain to screw off, he's a World Champion Laker now and he needs to rest during the off season. As he will playing late into June for the next few years.