Kobe Bryant deliberately spoke in Spanish to connect with Pau Gasol

The bond that Kobe Bryant built with Pau Gasol once the latter was traded to L.A. is bigger than basketball.

The Los Angeles Lakers have had many great big-little duos throughout their storied history. Those same duos oftentimes proved to be a booming success for the franchise when it came to winning championships.

The most recent titles L.A. won came back in 2009 and 2010. The primary players on those rosters were Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol. While the talent of both players is undeniable, it is important to reflect on how the pair became so effective as teammates.

Certainly, it helped that the two complemented one another as well as they did. Kobe perfectly fit the mold of an old-school, ferocious player who was not going to let anyone or anything get in his way. It did not take too long for Gasol to see how obsessive his teammate’s patterns were, and it brought out the best in the power forward.

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In terms of their relationship, it is worth reflecting on the origins of Gasol. For those who may have forgotten, the big man did not grow up in the United States. He was born and raised in Barcelona, Spain, and the initial part of his basketball career took place in those same stomping grounds.

Consequently, English was not Pau’s native language. It is not to say he had no knowledge of the English vernacular, but he was not quite as polished in that regard.

Despite that being the case, his Spanish background proved to be beneficial during his time as a Laker. While it is ordinarily difficult to connect with others due to speaking a different language, Gasol did not have that issue when he was traded to the Lakers in 2008.

Even though Bryant was not always the easiest person to get along with, he and Pau established a lasting bond pretty quickly. What helped in terms of building that bond was Bryant’s maniacal tendency to find ways to bring out the best in others.

According to Christian Rivas of Silver Screen & Roll (originally via Omar Raja of ESPN), the Black Mamba talked to the Spaniard in Spanish once the two were teammates. The two-time champion recently talked about this in more depth and said that it was a crucial step in making them such a deadly duo.

"“Right away from the first game he started speaking Spanish. On our coverages, on our plays. It was great. It was something that I obviously didn’t expect at the beginning, even though I knew that he spoke really good Italian because he spent quite a bit of time in Italy when his dad played there when he was young.“But then being married to Vanessa, she speaks Spanish very well (and) obviously he picked up some stuff. He was great, we did speak quite a bit of Spanish, especially our first years so that the opponents couldn’t understand. And they would point it out, they would go ‘what are you guys talking about?’ It was pretty funny … It created that bond and that relationship from the get go, and he set the tone.”"

To begin with, it is hard to not point out the following. This was a rather thoughtful gesture on the part of Bryant. He could have very well taken the hard road with Gasol being a newbie, but he opted for another approach.

On account of choosing to speak to the former Grizzly in his native tongue, it clearly impacted Gasol’s perception of him. The Spaniard immediately felt like he could trust Kobe on the battlefield. Given that he spent the first six and a half years of his career in Memphis, it was important to start anew on a positive note.

That being said, it comes to show how methodical and strategic Bryant was. He was renowned for outworking opponents and this is a case where he also outthought them. By communicating in Spanish, Pau recounts that it gave the duo an edge against the foes they faced.

This demonstrates just how committed Kobe Bryant was to winning. Albeit it may have been an outlandish scheme in the minds of some, it was an effective way for the two to gel. It showed Kobe cared enough about Pau as a human but also wanted to bring the best out of him from a basketball perspective.

In Kobe Bryant’s The Mamba Mentality: How I Play, the five-time champion conveyed just how well the two connected. Bryant said the following about No. 16 in his composition.

"“He was a very intelligent player, very detail-oriented. More than that, he had a big heart and just as big a drive to win. That was a common language that we spoke. The other common language was Spanish, and I think that played a part in our fast friendship.”"

Certainly, it was beneficial that both were cut from a similar cloth. Both hated to lose and their mentalities led to them achieving tremendous success as teammates in 2009 and 2010.

Nevertheless, Bryant likewise understood the importance of communicating in Spanish to Gasol. However, the dialogue was not advantageous from an on the court perspective alone.

Kobe openly admitted their relationship transcended the sport given their “fast friendship.” That being said, it is clear their relationship extended beyond the blood, sweat, and tears.

The time Kobe Bryant barreled through Pau Gasol:

However, it is not to say everything was always all peachy between them. A moment of adversity came during the 2008 Olympics when Bryant was on the Redeem Team and Pau played for Spain.

The two squared off against one another in the gold medal match. Early in the contest, there came a point when the European player tried to set a pick on the Lower Merion High School product. Things did not turn out so well for Pau per the fact that Kobe literally barreled him over in the process. No joke.

This example sheds light on how competitive and perhaps in eyes of the public, mean, Kobe was at times. However, there is no doubt Kobe did this deliberately. The Lakers were coming off a Finals loss against the Celtics of all the teams in the world, and Kobe likely did this to thicken his teammate’s skin.

Moreover, who can forget what Bryant did that autumn in training camp? He went the extra mile and went as far as to hang his gold medal in Gasol’s locker. Certainly, Pau was probably not too pleased with that in the moment.

It proved to be an effective motivational tool in the long haul, though. Kobe wanted to instill a fire within his brother, and the two later got their sweet revenge against Boston.

All things considered, it is fair to say Bryant stopped at nothing to get the best out of his teammates. It is a monumental part of his legacy, one that will forevermore stand the test of time.

On a similar note, the same can be said regarding the bond between Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol. While the former is no longer here, the respect the two had for one another is impossible to not decipher. It is all the more amazing that they got along instantly and as Kobe said a lot of it is because they indeed shared a “common language.”