Former NFL player and current “Undisputed” host Richard Sherman was destroyed on social media for comparing newly acquired Los Angeles Lakers big man Christian Wood to Hall of Famer Pau Gasol.
Richard Sherman compares Christian Wood to Pau Gasol pic.twitter.com/tWmsosBS2C
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) September 6, 2023
“This is huge Skip, regardless of how they use him,” Sherman said. “If they start him and let A.D. (Anthony Davis) play the 4, I’m sure A.D. would be ecstatic about that.”
While Sherman is high on the signing of Wood, he may have gone a little overboard by comparing him to Gasol, who is one of the greatest big men in Lakers history.
“Pau Gasol – a Lakers great – jersey just went in the rafters, during his Lakers career averaged 18 and nine – or 18 and 10,” Sherman said. “This boy coming in is averaging 18 and nine over the last three years – 38 percent shooting from 3. I feel like he’s gonna be a great asset.”
Sherman received some criticism for his comments on social media.
Richard Sherman talking about basketball … pic.twitter.com/Znb0G6dDRv
— ᴀᴄʜ™🌐 (@StepbackAch1) September 6, 2023
Undisputed is COOKED 🧢
— Lakers Lead (@LakersLead) September 6, 2023
— Kyrie Center (@kyriecenterig) September 6, 2023
Stop nfl players from talking basketball please
— ᴅ ʀ ᴇ ᴡ (@FeelLikeDrew) September 6, 2023
While Wood’s numbers over the last few seasons are solid, he also put them up on teams that failed to make the playoffs in the Houston Rockets and Dallas Mavericks.
Gasol, who played in a different era, put up strong numbers for a Lakers team that won two NBA titles with him and Kobe Bryant on the roster.
A six-time All-Star during his NBA career, Gasol averaged 17.0 points, 9.2 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game while shooting 50.7 percent from the field and 36.8 percent from beyond the arc. He was also a solid defender, averaging 1.6 blocks per game.
Wood is a talented player, but he’s bounced around in his NBA career, playing for the Mavericks, Rockets, Detroit Pistons, New Orleans Pelicans, Milwaukee Bucks, Charlotte Hornets and Philadelphia 76ers.
While Wood has proven he can score the ball, he has struggled on defense at times, posting a negative defensive box plus/minus for his career.
The signing of Wood is great value for the Lakers since he’s on a league minimum deal, but Sherman is going way too far by comparing him to a Hall of Famer.
The Lakers are just hoping that Wood can provide minutes in the frontcourt to help take some of the burden off of Davis in the 2023-24 season. If he ends up playing as well as Gasol did on the Lakers’ title teams, then Los Angeles should be in the conversation for an NBA title this season.
