The atmosphere at Staples Center on Thursday, Nov. 19, was different. There was a sense of completeness.

Pau Gasol is back and the rest of the league better beware because the Los Angeles Lakers now have all their stars aligned and they are scary good with Gasol in the lineup.

The All-Star forward-center, who missed all of training camp, the preseason and the first 11 games because of a strained hamstring, scored 24 points on 9-of-15 shooting and grabbed 13 rebounds in his season debut and powered the Lakers to a 108-93 blowout victory over the Chicago Bulls.

Gasol didn’t miss a beat, starting the game and playing 35 minutes. He looked sharp and he was in sync with his teammates, including first-year Laker Ron Artest. Who needs the preseason? Gasol is a cerebral player and he knows how to play within the system. And he was also smart enough to stay in shape while he was recovering from his injury. Imagine if Shaquille O’Neal missed all of preseason and the first 11 games of the season? Shaq would be so grossly out of shape for his season debut he probably wouldn’t last past the first quarter.

Pau Gasol netted 24 points against Joakim Noah and the Chicago Bulls in his season debut. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

“It’s so much fun to play with our guys in front of our crowd,” Gasol told reporters. “I really wasn’t expecting to be as effective as I was tonight, but my teammates found me a couple of times and made it easy.”

With Gasol at power forward, Andrew Bynum at center, Artest at small forward, Derek Fisher at point guard, Kobe Bryant at shooting guard and forward Lamar Odom and Shannon Brown both coming off the bench, the Lakers now have a solid seven-man rotation that coach Phil Jackson can trust.

The Gasol-Bynum tandem – both 7-footers – makes is extremely difficult for other teams to score in the paint because of their size and length. Then, you bring in the 6-10 Odom off the bench and you have the tallest and deepest frontcourt talent pool in the Association.

The Lakers were 8-3 with Gasol sidelined. I can’t see this team losing more than 12 games this season.

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There is no doubt that Pau Gasol and Dirk Nowitzki are the two best players in Europe. But who is better?

After leading Spain to a gold medal in the 2009 European Championships, you can make a strong case for Gasol as the best non-American player in the world.

Led by Gasol, named the “best player” of the tournament, Spain defeated Serbia, 85-63, in the championship game. Gasol finished with 18 points, 11 rebounds and three blocked shots, and was easily the most dominant force for the undisputed No. 1 team in Europe.

His performance throughout the championships served notice to the rest of the world that he is a legitimate superstar and belongs in the conversation when the topic of discussion turns to the “best players in the world not named Kobe Bryant or LeBron James.”

Pau Gasol has surpassed Dirk Nowitzki as the best player from Europe. (REUTERS)

Though they are almost similarly built – both are 7 feet and right around 250 pounds – Nowitzki and Gasol have varying basketball talents. Gasol, 29, is a classic back-to-the-basket post player who can occasionally face up and hit the 15-foot jump shot. Nowitzki, 31, prefers to start his offensive moves away from the basket  and loves to take his defender near the free-throw line, using his patented step-back jumper.

Gasol showed the NBA community that he is tough enough to play in the interior, helping the Los Angeles Lakers capture the Larry O’Brien trophy last June by outplaying Orlando’s Dwight Howard, a first-team All-NBA center, in the NBA Finals.

Nowitzki has long been recognized as Europe’s best player because of all his individual accomplishments. He is, without question, one of the top power forwards in the NBA and has earned the reputation for being a great offensive player (he averaged 25.9 points per game in 2008-09). He is a four-time member of the All-NBA first team, an eight-time NBA All-Star and is the only European-born player to ever win the NBA’s regular-season MVP.

Because the Dallas Mavericks superstar did not participate in this year’s European Championships (per Mark Cuban’s request), we never got to see the highly anticipated one-on-one matchup between the two European studs – although the end result would have favored Gasol’s squad because Germany is not in the same class with Spain.

It’s safe to say that Germany is a one-man team, boasting only two other NBA players on its roster compared to Spain, which fields at least seven players with NBA experience.

If I had a choice to pick between the two, I would take Gasol because he commands so much respect inside than Nowitzki. The game is still played inside-out, and Gasol is one of the best in the world at scoring in the paint and protecting the paint. Defense has never been Nowitzki’s forte and, at times, he easily gets flustered by a more physical defender. Gasol has learned how to play against bigger and stronger players, and his basketball IQ is off the charts.

Bottom line, Pau Gasol has surpassed Dirk Nowitzki as the best European-born player in the NBA. Gasol has an NBA title, a FIBA World Championship and European Championship to prove it.

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The Lakers' terrific trio of Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom are poised to win an NBA title. (NBAE/GETTY IMAGES)

After sleep-walking through the first two rounds of the playoffs and the first four games of the Western Conference finals, the Lakers are now fully caffeinated and wide awake.

Pau Gasol is fully stretched, Lamar Odom is back to form and Kobe Bryant looks unstoppable. To borrow a line from the popular Nike Most Valuable Puppets commercials that features Kobe and LeBron James … “What makes his unstoppableness unstoppable?” Nobody knows.

So, cue the Lakers’ championship parade. Bring back Mark Madsen and let him do a little reign dance in front of Staples Center. Give Jack Nicholson a chest bump. And find one of Hef’s Playmates and give her a smooch. As the late great Chick Hearn would say, “This one is in the refrigerator. The door’s closed, the lights are out, the eggs are cooling, the butter’s getting hard and the Jell-O’s jiggling.” The Lakers are back in the NBA Finals and four victories away from a 15th NBA championship. It’s banner time!

When the Lakers are locked in on defense and playing with a high efficiency on offense, no team in the league – and that includes Cleveland and Orlando – that can stop them. The Denver Nuggets saw the Lakers at their best in Game 6 when the Lake Show dispatched the Nuggets, 119-92, on Denver’s home floor.

The domination was evident from the start. Trevor Ariza got the party started by hitting three 3-pointers in the first quarter. After the Nuggets took a 31-30 lead thanks to J.R. Smith, the Lakers went back to work and the game became one-sided. When the Lakers kicked it into sixth gear, there was nothing the Nuggets could do. Kobe Bryant punctuated the first-half assault by swishing a 3-pointer from the corner to give the Lakers a 13-point lead right before halftime. Dagger!

“All through the series, I saw little cracks in the Lakers. Somehow we’ve cemented those cracks back up and I think they’re the best team right now in the NBA,” said Denver coach George Karl, who reluctantly congratulated the Lakers after they eliminated the Nuggets from the postseason.

As usual, Bryant led all scorers with 35 points on 12-of-20 shooting from the field and was a perfect 9-for-9 from the line. The Black Mamba, who also had six rebounds and 10 assists, showed Carmelo Anthony, Chauncey Billups and J.R. Smith how to close out a series.

“Their offensive execution was the best it’s been all series, and their box defense kinda frustrated our offense,” Karl added. “Then No. 24 had a great five minutes at the end of the (half) that no one in basketball could have covered. He made about four shots during that stretch; I think Jesus would have had trouble covering him.”

Though Karl was mesmerized by Bryant’s holy game, Kobe was not alone in cutting up the Nuggets. Pau Gasol also flirted with a triple-double with 20 points, 12 rebounds and six assists, and his proficiency in the post allows the other Lakers to get involved and creates a better balance on offense and defense.

“The last two games we really proved to ourselves and everybody else that we can be an extremely high quality team that deserves to be in the NBA Finals and is going for the NBA championship,” Gasol explained. “We have to do more of that. I think we have been a little inconsistent throughout the year with that. When we move the ball and use all of our weapons, we become really dangerous because the defense then hesitates and doubt if they double team Kobe or not, or go double team me or not and they’re out of balance. Hopefully we can keep it this way.”

Lamar Odom came off the bench to score 20 points on 7-of-12 shooting and Luke Walton enjoyed his best game of the series with 10 points. When Odom is actively involved in the game, teams have a really hard time matching up with the Lakers because it gives them three highly-skilled scoring options. A perfect triangle offense built to overcome any defense. “Whoever woke up Lamar Odom should be fired,” Karl joked. “I thought we had him contained, but he has been sensational the last two games.”

Karl hinted that when Bryant has is going offensively, Gasol is working his post-up game and the 3-point snipers are hitting their mark, the Lakers become unstoppable.

“We never got control of their post-ups,” Karl said as the Lakers made 43 of 75 of their shots from the field (57%) and were 9-of-16 from 3-point range (56%). “When we doubled it, they scored – the three or the two. And when we didn’t double it, they scored on the post-up. Offensively, they got into control of us more than we got in control of them.”

Right now, the Lakers are in complete control of their destiny and it would not matter who plays them in the NBA Finals because there is no stopping the Lake Show.

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Vlade Divac played 16 productive seasons in the NBA, six with the Sacramento Kings. His jersey No. 21 now hangs in the rafters in Arco Arena. (NBAE/GETTY IMAGES)

Vlade Divac’s No. 21 jersey was recently retired by the Sacramento Kings in honor of the groundbreaking Serbian center’s six successful seasons with the club.
Divac was the emotional leader and most popular player on the best teams in the franchise’s history, including the Kings’ back-to-back Pacific Division champions and the 2002 Western Conference finalists. He is the second-leading rebounder in Kings history, and he endeared himself to California’s capital city with extensive charity work.
Divac played 16 NBA seasons, including eight with the Los Angeles Lakers and two with the Charlotte Hornets, and enjoyed six solid seasons with the Kings.
Even though he was not the first European player drafted by an NBA team, Divac’s successful run in the Association paved the way for a new wave of European ballers such as Dirk Nowitzki, Peja Stojakovic, Pau Gasol and Tony Parker.

OneManFastbreak.net rates the top 10 European-born players who have played in the NBA:

10) Šarunas Marčiulionis – At 6-5, 200 pounds and left-handed, he was the original Manu Ginobili. He was incredibly strong for a guard, and was fearless when he drove to the basket. He led the Soviet Union to a gold medal in the 1988 Summer Games, prompting a change to Olympic basketball and launching the development of the 1992 Dream Team. Marciulionis was drafted by Don Nelson in 1987, but did not play for the Golden State Warriors until 1989 when he entered the NBA as a 25-year-old rookie. His best season came in the 1991-92 season when he averaged 18 points per game off the bench.

9) Vlade Divac – A very skilled 7-footer who thrived in the Princeton Offense, where it showcased his ability to shoot or pass the ball near the free-throw line. Divac was more finesse than power. Considered the ambassador of Yugoslavian basketball to the United States. He was a good NBA player, but an even better person off the court. Divac, a Serb, and Drazen Petrovic of Croatia made it possible for NBA scouts to believe in the European player. Although he started and ended his career with the L.A. Lakers, Divac’s best seasons were spent in Sacramento where he served as the team leader of the run-and-gun Kings and took young Euros such as Peja Stojakovic and Hedo Turkoglu under his wing.

8) Andrei Kirilenko – Owns one of the best nicknames in sports. The man they call “AK47″ is one of the most versatile players in the world and can definitely fill a stat sheet. AK47 is always among the league leaders in blocks and steals. He was the 24th player taken in the 1999 NBA draft and has played his entire career with the Utah Jazz. The 6-9 forward has been a member of the all-defense team three times (he made first-team all-defense during 2005-06 season).
7) Arvydas Sabonis – NBA fans never got to see the real Sabonis because multiple knee surgeries robbed him of his mobility when he got to Portland. He was still very effective for the Blazers, helping Portland become a Western Conference power from 1999 to 2001. But if the Blazers had gotten the 7-foot-3, 290-pound Lithuanian center when he was in his prime, the Blazers could have won a championship or two. Just ask David Robinson how good Sabonis was back in the 1988 Olympics when Sabonis schooled Mr. Robinson, who at the time was the reigning college player of the year.
6(t) Peja Stojakovic – At one point of his young professional life, he was considered the best pure shooter in the world. The native of Serbia and Montenegro was drafted by the Sacramento Kings in 1998, at the suggestion of Vlade Divac, and began making his mark during the 2000-01 season when he averaged 20.4 points as the starting small forward for the Kings. For the next five season, Stojakovic averaged more than 20 points per game and always among the league leaders in 3-point shooting. After a brief stint in Indiana, Stojakovic has been a member of the New Orleans Hornets for the past three seasons and has become Chris Paul’s favorite basketball sniper.
6(t) Detlef Schrempf – The native of Luverkusen was the pioneer of German basketball players. After a successful stint at the University of Washington, Schrempf was drafted by the Dallas Mavericks in 1985 and went on to play 16 seasons in the NBA. His best years were spent in Indiana and Seattle. He was named sixth man of the year in 1990-91 and again in 1991-92. He was named to the all-star team in 1993, 1995 and 1997. In 1996, he was a part of the Sonics team that played lost to the Bulls in the NBA Finals. Detlef would be a lot higher on this list if he didn’t have such a bad reputation for being surly.

5) Dražen Petrović – He died in a car accident on July 7, 1993, on the highway in the vicinity of the German town of Ingolstadt, one day after his last game in a Croatian national team jersey at the qualifications tournament for the European championship in Wroclaw. Though his career was cut short by his untimely death, Petrovic left enough of an impact in the game that he was elected to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2002. His last two seasons was spent in New Jersey, averaging 20.6 in 1991-92 and 22.3 in 1992-93. He made third team All-NBA in his fourth and final season in the NBA.
4) Toni Kukoć – Enjoyed a legendary career in Europe that earned him nicknames such as “The Croatian Sensation,” “White Magic,” and “The Waiter” for his ability to serve and dish the ball to teammates. The 6-10 forward starred for Benetton Treviso from 1991-93. He joined the Chicago Bulls in 1993 as a 25-year-old rookie, shortly after Michael Jordan’s first retirement from the NBA. In 13 NBA seasons, the six with the Bulls, Kukoc was regarded as one of the best sixth men, winning the award in 1996. Kukoc has three championship rings and a reputation for making clutch shots.
3) Pau Gasol – If there was a player influenced by the 1992 Dream Team, it was Pau Gasol. He was 12 years old when he saw firsthand the greatest collection of basketball stars all under one flag playing in his backyard in Barcelona. Now, Gasol is the face of Spanish basketball. He is easily the greatest basketball player to come out of Spain and we now just realizing his true talents as the perfect complement to Kobe Byrant. Gasol is a big reason for the popularity of the sport in his country and for the influx of Spanish players in the NBA, such as Jose Calderon, Sergio Rodriguez, Rudy Fernandez and his brother Marc.

2) Tony Parker – When San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich handed the keys to the franchise to this ultra-quick point guard when he was only 19 years old, you knew he was special. With Parker, who was born in Belgium but grew up in France, at the controls, the Spurs just took off. Parker was on championship teams in 2003, 2005 and 2007. He became the first European-born player to win the MVP of the NBA Finals. He is enjoying his best season in 2008-09, averaging career highs in points (21.8) and assists (6.9). Parker’s success opened the doors for other Frenchmen such as Boris Diaw and Mikael Pietrus. The three-time NBA all-star is also married to actress Eva Longoria, which gives him bonus points.

Dirk Nowitzki won the NBA MVP award in 2007.

1) Dirk Nowitzki – The first and only European-born player to win the NBA’s regular-season MVP when he took home the Maurice Podoloff trophy during the 2006-07 season. After a slow start to his rookie season in 1998, the 7-footer from Wurzburg, Germany, showed he belonged in the league when he raised his scoring average from 8.2 to 17.5 during his second season with the Dallas Mavericks. For then on, he has become a fixture in all-star games and on the All-NBA teams. He is an eight-time NBA all-star and has been named to the All-NBA first team three times. Nowitzki increased his scoring average to 21.8 points during his third season, and his scoring has never dipped below that number since. He averaged a career-best 26.6 points in the 2005-06 season when he led the Mavs to the NBA Finals. For the 2008-09 season, Nowitzki ranks in the top 10 in points per game (25.7), field goals made, field goal attempts, minutes played and free throw percentage. Nowitzki owns one of the purest shots in the game, a big man with an accurate jumper.

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Pau Gasol is the reason why the Lakers own the best record in the NBA. (GETTY IMAGES)

Kobe Bryant is not the Lakers’ most valuable player this season. What? Yup, sounds utterly ridiculous but it’s true. Bryant may be the best player in the galaxy, but the title of Lakers MVP belongs to Pau Gasol. As good as Kobe Bryant is (and he’s very, very good), the game is still played inside-out. NBA championships are won with the big guys in the paint, not with the guys who make the “pretty” plays.
Since coming to L.A. in a trade from Memphis that still has the entire Western Conference fuming, Gasol has helped the Lakers win 43 of their last 53 games, a number that would have been higher had the 28-year-old Spaniard not sprained his ankle last March. The Lakers went 13-2 during Gasol’s first month in purple and gold. After struggling to a 9-6 mark in March partly because Gasol was on the injured list for nine games, the Lakers posted a 7-1 record in April and are 14-1 in October and November. Simply put, the arrival of Gasol has calmed Bryant, made Phil Jackson’s beloved triangle offense potent again and turned Mitch Kupchak into a genius executive overnight.
Entering the 2008-09 season, many wondered how Gasol would co-exist center Andrew Bynum, who was returning from knee surgery. Many questioned Gasol’s toughness after being shoved around by Kevin Garnett and Co. during the 2008 NBA Finals. Some privately wondered whether Gasol has what it takes to be a prime-time player. So far, the answer has been a resounding “Yes, yes and yes!”
The Lakers own the best record in the Western Conference and, if they remain healthy, should be playing in June. Bryant is happy, Bynum is happy and Phil J. is happy…all because of Gasol. The 7-foot forward, who can also play center, is a perfect fit in Jackson’s offense. He can play the high post or the low post, has great hands, can pass extremely well for a big man and has a very high basketball IQ. He has shown an ability to face up and consistently make that 15-footer from the top of the key, a big reason why Bynum has plenty of room to operate near the basket.
Gasol’s unselfish play has also allowed Bryant to stay in attack mode. Pau is smart enough to know that Kobe is the main attraction in L.A. and sometimes you have to let the Black Mamba do his thing and simply get out of his way….something a certain 7-foot, 350-pound big man couldn’t accept when he was teamed with Bryant.
Gasol is the anti-Shaq. He’s more than happy to play second fiddle. At times, he’s been the third wheel, deferring to Bryant and Bynum. He understands that if the Lakers are going to win the championship, he’ll have to sacrifice some of his scoring. He was a 20-point scorer in Memphis and averaged 18 a game last year with the Lakers. This season, Gasol is picking his spots. For the season, Gasol is scoring 16 points per game, grabbing nine rebounds and shooting 54% from the field. His length and improved defense are two reasons why the Lakers have held nine opponents under 100 points. If the Lakers keep winning, Gasol should join Bryant and Bynum at the All-Star Game.
Kobe Bryant was on point when he said the Lakers’ acquisition of Pau Gasol was like a gift from God. God must be a Lakers fan.

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China's Yao Ming battles Spain's Pau Gasol at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

Pau Gasol and his Spanish teammates was put in an embarassing position of having to explain why they agreed to pose for an advertisement that reflected a racist tone.

The ad showed members of the Spanish team using their index fingers to stretch their eyes to make “slant eyes” as part of media day in preparation for the Beijing Olympics. Gasol and his teammates thought the gesture was innocent and was not meant to be demeaning. But after a London paper recently published the controversial photo, Spain’s men’s basketball team was thrusted into the spotlight and needed to defend its actions.

What adds fuel to this fiery issue is that Spain has been in this position before. The Associated Press reported that Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton was subjected to abuse at a Barcelona circuit in February, while former Spain coach Luis Aragones also used a racist remark about France striker Thierry Henry to motivate one of his players. Monkey chants rained down on England’s black players during an international friendly against Spain in a match played in Madrid in 2004, soon after Aragones’ outburst.

So, enter Pau Gasol. The Los Angeles Lakers center and one of the most revered and beloved athletes in Europe and around the world.

Gasol told Yahoo! Sports: “Some of us didn’t feel comfortable doing it just because to me it was a little clownish for our part to be doing that. But the sponsors insisted and insisted. I think it is just a bad idea I guess to do that, but it was never intended to be offensive or racist against anybody.

“I didn’t find it very funny. I didn’t find it offensive, either. I guess some guys didn’t mind. To me I don’t want to be that way, I guess, to be doing that stuff. If anybody feels offended by it we totally apologize for it. We never meant anything offensive by it.”

Good for Pau Gasol.

Whether his apology was by his own admission or Spain’s way of backpedaling, Gasol was a big enough man to step forward and state the obvious that the ad was done in poor taste and should have been pulled. Since he’s always front and center when it comes to Spanish basketball, Gasol wasted no time in diffusing the issue.

If this incident put a black eye on Team Espana, at least Gasol is doing his best in icing the injury and being the bigger man and admitting fault.

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