Three-day-old conjecture that All-Star Pau Gasol is available for a trade compelled team owner Michael Heisley to issue a public service announcement to the rest of the NBA.
"There's no damn way that anybody is going to trade Pau Gasol," Heisley said, his voice booming through the telephone. "I'm telling you that ain't going to happen. That's out the window."
Heisley reacted Tuesday to growing speculation generated first by a New York report that said the Boston Celtics had inquired about Gasol.
"Here's a scoop," Heisley said. "I'm going to contact Cleveland to try and get LeBron James. So put in the paper that Cleveland's interested in getting rid of LeBron James.
"Why would we trade our franchise player? Just like why would the Lakers trade Kobe Bryant? Why would Cleveland trade LeBron James? That's not going to happen. We're not trading Pau."
Heisley said he's confident Gasol would remain a Grizzly for a long time, even with the team's pending sale.