Pau Gasol on Kobe Bryant: 'He wanted to pretty much retire together'

After six seasons and two championship runs together, the union and Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol was finally severed this summer when Gasol chose to leave Los Angeles in favor of the Chicago Bulls.

But Gasol's decision wasn't easy, and it was made harder by Bryant's plea for him to stay put with the Lakers.

“(Bryant) wanted to pretty much retire together,” Gasol told Michael Lee of the Washington Post. “That was an attractive option. One part of me wanted to stick with him and try to turn it around."

"But deep inside of me, I felt it was time after everything that I’d been through that I wanted to put myself in a position where I was highly stimulated. Kind of change directions a little bit, fresh start and get going again.”

Gasol eschewed the Lakers and signed a three-year, $22 million deal with the Bulls this summer. During his time as a Laker, Gasol scored over 7,000 points, grabbed over 4,000 rebounds and propelled the Lakers to three-straight Finals appearances, winning two.