Los Angeles Lakers center Marc Gasol is now indicating that neither he nor new teammate LeBron James should have won the NBA’s 2012-13 Defensive Player of the Year award, with Gasol choosing former Memphis Grizzlies teammate Tony Allen instead.
Recently, James indicated that he should have been the winner of the award. James later offered a welcome Gasol to the Lakers, with Gasol holding no grudges by modestly suggesting to ESPN that the Grizzlies team, specifically Allen, should have received the award.
“I believe that trophy is for the Grizzlies in 2013,” Gasol said. “I think the team that deserved to have that trophy was the Grizzlies. For some reason, they picked me. If anybody, the one that should have claimed that trophy was Tony Allen, from my point of view. At the same time, from a First Team All-NBA defensively, I believe I should be there. But I don’t, and I don’t care. We can have a laugh about it if he wants. If not, I’m sure he can go get it this year if he wants to.”
Both James and Gasol have offered strong defensive skills over the course of their lengthy careers, which is a positive sign for the Lakers this season.
Helping the Lakers win another title is really the only thing that James and Gasol are now focused on, with the 2020-21 regular season set to start in less than three weeks. Dwelling on the selection process for an award from seven years ago does nothing to aid that goal, which is why it will soon become a minor footnote in Lakers history.
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