Pau Gasol calls Mike Brown firing a ‘direct message to all of us’

On the heels of Coach Mike Brown’s firing, power forward Pau Gasol said: “It’s a pretty direct message to all of us. There’s no messing around.”

Brown was let go after the team’s 1-4 start, 1-12 if taking into account the team’s winless exhibition season.

“[General Manger Mitch Kupchak] told us this morning,” said Gasol. “The decision was made. We didn’t have a very good start and this team is built to win. This is what we’re all here to do.”

The team struggled both offensively and defensively so far this season with their lone win at home against the Detroit Pistons (0-5).

Gasol said the players were still confident in what Brown was trying to do, but the lack of results was frustrating.

“I don’t think we lost faith at any moment. I think we believed in what we were trying to do,” said Gasol. “We also understood that it was going to take a little bit of time for us to do things the way they should have been done.”

It’s unclear who the Lakers will turn to as their next head coach but assistant Bernie Bickerstaff will step in for Friday night’s game against the Golden State Warriors.

“It wasn’t happening as fast as we all wanted it to,” said Gasol, speaking for himself but also the fans and, apparently, Lakers ownership as well.

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You can email Eric Pincus at eric.pincus@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @EricPincus.