Pau Gasol: Rumors caused 'suffering'

Lakers forward Pau Gasol denied recent internet reports and speculation in several major media outlets that there has been any conflict between Kobe Bryant's wife Vanessa and Gasol's girlfriend Silvia Lopez Castro.

One report even intimated that Gasol's situation had spilled into the Lakers locker room and caused an argument between him and Bryant because Bryant's wife became involved in Gasol's relationship issues.

On Tuesday, Gasol called rumors of a rift between he and Bryant or a breakup with his girlfriend "absolutely false."

"She [Lopez Castro] was suffering because she saw me suffering. And I was suffering because I was seeing her suffering. When you add that to other stuff to what's already happening, it's tough."

Gasol said that he didn't realize the extent to which the internet chatter had spread as an explanation for his subpar play during the Lakers disappointingly short playoff run this year because he doesn't read articles about himself or the team on a regular basis.

"I didn't know to what extent it had become an issue," Gasol said. "During the playoffs I'm totally out of the media whether it's great or not so great.

"But you do feel it because your environment feels it, and they make you feel it."

Part of the reason the story spread and became somewhat legitimized in recent days were Gasol's cryptic comments after the Lakers 122-86 loss to Dallas in Game 4 Sunday night.

Gasol said that he needed to learn to handle "whatever goes on, on or off the floor" better and "not let it affect anything that goes on on the floor."

"Everything just seemed to get bigger and heavier," he said, referring to the wild story about Bryant's wife and his girlfriend.

"Sometimes I feel like I'm an easy target."

Lopez Castro attended Game 2 with Gasol's mother.

"She's been great," Gasol said. "A great help and support throughout this process. It's been rough for her, because it's been really unfair to her. I mean, forget about me."

"I understand that with player that I am and I consider myself to be, there are a lot of expectations. And once those expectations are not achieved, there's going to be criticism," he said.

"So it's time to get through it and stand up for yourself. I understand this is part of the deal, whether you consider it fair or not.

"The thing that makes me the angriest, I guess, is me not playing at my best and not being able to help my team accomplish its goals."

Gasol said he planned to spend the unexpected time off analyzing his own play and looking for ways to come back with "a clean cut" next season.

He also said he was "leaning toward playing" for the Spanish National team this summer as it tries to qualify for the 2012 London Summer Olympics.

"My decisions the last couple years have been because of a lack of rest and time to recover from our runs to the championships before the beginning of the season," he said. "But this obviously gives me more opportunity of participating with my national team."