In the past few weeks, the main media has erroneously reported a supposed rift between Pau Gasol and Kobe Bryant that allegedly began when Bryant’s wife Vanessa broke up Gasol’s relationship with girlfriend Silvia Lopez Castro.

That rumor, thanks to comments by Gasol as early as last Saturday, has now been completely debunked. Gasol has since confirmed he is still with Castro and nothing has changed in their relationship.

While that break between Gasol and Bryant never existed, now ex-Lakers Coach Phil Jackson confirmed yesterday a disconnect between himself and a key member of the Lakers basketball operation and ownership.

Wednesday, as Jackson conducted his final press conference as Lakers coach, he was asked by FOX Sports Radio reporter David Vassegh:

“Do feel you have a stronger sense of attachment (to the Lakers) other than Jeanie (Buss, Jackson girlfriend and daughter of Lakers owner Jerry Buss) than you did with the Bulls?” 

Jackson reply:

“There are people in the organization, yes, that I have an attachment to. You know I haven’t spoken to (Lakers Exec. VP, Player Personnel and son of owner Jerry) Jimmy Buss this year.

“Jerry I see occasionally and we confer. (Lakers General Manager) Mitch (Kupchak) and I have our chances to be together and we have a good relationship. Those are people in that department that I have a relationship with.

“As far as management, if you want to call it that, there’s really not a relationship with that.”

Jackson couldn’t have slighted Jim Buss any more in his comments than he did with that remark.

Longtime Lakers owner Jerry Buss has made clear on numerous occasions that Jim Buss will formally take over the basketball operation of the team when he relinquishes all control of the franchise. (Jeanie will continue to run the business operation.)

While Mitch Kupchak technically runs the Lakers basketball operation, eventually he will report solely to Jim Buss, though from Jerry’s comments last August, it sounds as if that is already the case.

During a press conference on August 17, 2010, Jerry Buss said of his role with the team’s basketball operation:

“I still talk to my son Jimmy at least twice a day. Some of those phone calls are as long as an hour. The large portion of the content of those phone calls is basketball. What we should do, what we’re doing. 

“In terms of (Lakers basketball) decisions, 80% of it goes with Jim and I throw in my two cents worth here and there.”

That Jim Buss did not speak to Jackson this season is very telling when it comes to the coach’s relationship to the future, formal overseer of the Lakers basketball fortunes.

If you’re wondering why Jackson is leaving L.A., there’s your ‘Exhibit A.’

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Last Friday I addressed the message board-borne rumor that Pau Gasol had recently broken up with his girlfriend, which in turn was contributing to his poor performance for the Lakers in the NBA playoffs.

(What part of “lies” and “made up” does the media not understand?)

A source who works with the Lakers confirmed to me at that time that Gasol’s girlfriend Silvia Lopez Castro most recently attended the Lakers game against the Mavericks with Gasol’s mother Marisa on Wednesday at Staples Center.

I’ve since confirmed that fact through two more Laker organization sources today.

During a L.A.-based CBS 2 report from Lakers correspondent John Ireland in Dallas on Saturday, Gasol was asked by a reporter:

“Is the chemistry okay with you and Kobe, are you guys on the same page?”

Gasol:

“It’s great. The chemistry has been great actually.  I think there’s been a lot of talk and rumors and stories made up that I don’t know where they come from. It’s unfortunate but it comes with the situation that we’re in. People try to find reasons, throw stones at us at this time. It’s part of the deal.”

Gasol added of the false rumors to Kevin Ding of the ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER during the same interview session:

“I don’t read them, but people close to me read them … affecting people very close to me.

” … (the) media tries to do their job the best they can and some try to do that.

“To me, it’s sad … because if there was any truth to it, you deal with it.

“But when they lie and make up stories, it’s not pleasant.”

After the Game 4 loss to Dallas on Sunday, Bill Plaschke of the LOS ANGELES TIMES reported:

“I have to learn from this,” Gasol said. ”I have to learn that when something happens off the court, you have to keep it off the court.”

The key line from Gasol came on Saturday, when he said of the rumors, “I don’t read them, but people close to me read them … affecting people very close to me.”

If Gasol had indeed broken up with girlfriend Castro, who would he Gasol be referring to in the present tense?

If Gasol had indeed broken up with girlfriend Castro, why was Castrol at the Lakers-Mavericks game at Staples Center last Wednesday with Gasol’s mother Marisa?

As I wrote last Friday, with no obvious injury or personal issue to attribute Gasol’s mediocre playoff performance, the media always takes the easy route by reaching for something to ease their small minds.

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The talk here in Los Angeles about what was wrong with Pau Gasol started the moment he scored a paltry eight points and was a non-factor in the Lakers’ Game 1 home loss to New Orleans in the first round of the NBA playoffs in mid-April.

Even before the second round Dallas series, which has seen Gasol perform adequately - at best - in consecutive home loses to the Mavericks, the L.A. media was at a complete loss to explain Gasol’s postseason performance. So far the Spaniard has been been injury-free with his demeanor also giving the media no clue as to the condition of his game.

But when you’re a main media member in Los Angeles - and beyond - charged with breaking down the Lakers in the playoffs, chalking up a performance to the unknown isn’t unacceptable. So, in the case of Gasol, cooking up a theory about his lack of production, no matter how baseless and damaging to his personal life, is a job requirement.

Beginning last month during the Lakers-New Orleans series, that’s exactly what happened on a particular Los Angeles sports radio station. More than one host on the main outlet floated the idea that Gasol’s game was suffering because his relationship with girlfriend Silvia Lopez Castro, who we introduced you to here last year, was breaking down.

The rumor spread from there to internet message boards, which naturally meant that the dubious claim would eventually find its way to bloggers who source their reporting from anonymous message board posts.

Which it did today.

I then decided to find out the truth after main media outlets - apparently unaware of the dubious posting tactics of blogs that primarily traffic in imaginary stories - began picking up those blogs ‘reports’ on Gasol’s so-called relationship breakup.

This morning and afternoon I talked to two people who work with the Lakers on a daily basis. Read more…

Larry Altman of the DAILY BREEZE here in Los Angeles was first to report this week Pau Gasol calling on Redondo Beach police officers to throw a scare into the Spanish paparazzi.

Gasol, who lives in Redondo Beach, told officers he saw the men following him before he got into his car. They tailed him with such tenacity that he was unsure if he was being stalked or if they were photographers, Redondo Beach police Sgt. Phil Keenan said.

Officers spotted the black sedan and pulled it over on Diamond Street near Catalina Avenue, just west of the police station. The occupants turned out to be credentialed paparazzi with a Spanish news agency and were allowed to leave, Keenan said.

Police escorted Gasol home.

(Pau’s girlfriend: Shy she ain’t)

Mike Bresnahan of the L.A. TIMES:

“They had laid in wait for him for a while and then when they didn’t take any pictures of him when they had the chance and followed him after that, he thought there was something nefarious on their mind,” said Redondo Sgt. Phil Keenan.

They didn’t take any pictures of him when they had the chance? The Spanish paparazzi has never tailed Gasol in Los Angeles until now. So what changed?

Read more…