Pau Gasol calls Lakers teammates selfish and rips coach Mike D'Antoni

INDIANAPOLIS, Feb. 26 (UPI) -- Following Tuesday’s 118-98 road loss to the Indiana Pacers, Los Angeles Lakers forward Pau Gasol ripped into head coach Mike D'Antoni and called his teammates selfish during a postgame rant.

The Lakers are 15 games out of a playoff spot with 25 games left to play and the loss was the team’s 25th in their last 31 games.

"There's just too many individual actions right now," Gasol told ESPN after the game. "It's really not a good flow and rhythm out there. You get two guys that are just coming in brand new and they're playing a lot of minutes, so, that's going to take some time for the team and the units to kind of understand each other and be on the same page.”

The NBA veteran was referencing Kent Bazemore and MarShon Brooks. Both players were acquired from the Golden State Warriors prior to the trade deadline last Thursday and they combined to shoot 12-for-29 against the Pacers.

"As long as we hustle, then we give ourselves an opportunity. And we got to be unselfish. If we see a teammate open, we have to make sure that guy gets the ball. Otherwise, it's really deflating. It takes a lot of energy away from individuals,” Gasol said.

Gasol, 33, was critical of D'Antoni's choice to play a small lineup against the Pacers.

"If we want to continue to play small, we have to play to that advantage and utilize more quickness," Gasol said. "But if we get outrebounded by 20 rebounds, I don't care who you are and what you do, it's not going to work. You're not going to win."

The 13-year player was asked about the possibility of 215-pound Los Angeles forward Wesley Johnson starting against 260-pound Memphis Grizzlies forward Zach Randolph on Wednesday.

"Good luck, right?" he said. "You just got to be really active defensively when you're small like that and let's see what happens [Wednesday], if Wes continues to start or if we actually try to match up and utilize our size because we do have guys with size that can do well.”

All-Star guard Kobe Bryant has been out since Dec. 17 and it’s possible he won’t play again this year if the team continues to play in this fashion.

[ESPN]