EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — Since Pau Gasol joined the Los Angeles Lakers nearly two years ago, the team has compiled a 101-23 record in the games he has played, reached the NBA Finals once and won the NBA title last season.

So how did the Lakers repay him? With a three-year, contract extension worth roughly $57 million. Exact figures won’t be locked in until after the salary cap is set for the first year of his deal in 2011, and those numbers could increase.
“Well, I’m extremely happy,” Gasol said at the Lakers’ training facility. “It’s just a great day.”
Gasol, who has two seasons remaining on his current contract, including this season, signed his extension Wednesday, saying that he was fortunate to have been traded to Los Angeles from Memphis in 2008.
“It’s been a tremendous journey,” Gasol said. “I think I’ve matured a lot (since arriving). I understand better what I can do. At 28, it’s a good age because they say you’re hitting your prime as a basketball player.”
Gasol missed the first 11 games of the season because of a hamstring strain. But he has made up for his absence, averaging 17 points, 12.6 rebounds, 1.7 blocks and 88.9 percent from the free-throw line and helping the Lakers win 15 of their past 16 games.
Gasol is not only a reigning NBA champion, but the Spaniard also holds the FIBA World Championship and the European Championship and tournament MVP. He also helped Spain earn a silver medal at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics and was named the 2008 European Player of the Year.
Last season, Gasol earned All-NBA Third team honors and made his second appearance the All-Star Game.
“Over the past year and a half, Pau has quickly developed into one of the best all-around players in the NBA,” said General Manager Mitch Kupchak. “The impact he has had on and off the court for the Lakers is significant, and we look forward to watching Pau continue as one of the best players in the league for years to come.”
Kupchak’s next move will be to sign Kobe Bryant to a similar three-year extension. He said Wednesday that talks with Bryant’s representative and the player himself are ongoing.
“I always have felt that Kobe started his career in Los Angeles, and I believe he will end his career here in Los Angeles,” Kupchak said.
Bryant, who tweaked his left knee during the fourth quarter of Tuesday’s game against Oklahoma City, did not come to the Lakers training facility Wednesday to receive treatment.
Bryant is expected to play against Cleveland in Friday’s hyped Christmas Day game at Staples Center, according to team officials. Bryant said after their victory against the Thunder that he was “fine.”
Phil Jackson gave the team Wednesday off, but they will practice Thursday.
The Lakers coach had a sudden flashback when he saw Bryant laying prone on the court holding his left knee late in the game. He thought of former NBA great Karl Malone, who suffered a serious knee injury while playing for the Lakers five years ago.
That concern spread quickly among the sold-out Staples Center crowd, but dissipated even quicker when Bryant got up and continued to play after a timeout.
“I was concerned, I was very concerned,” Bryant said. (But) I did my ACL check, my MCL check (and) it was all intact.”
A knee injury is not something Bryant needed, not with LeBron James and the Cavaliers coming to town. He already is playing with a fractured right index finger and he got knocked in the jaw by Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook.
“We’re fortunate that he didn’t do anything disastrous,” Jackson said.
But isn’t Bryant concerned about these injuries?
“Nah, I’m Bruce Willis, man,” he said.
“I’m not going to say I got a knee, I got a finger. I’m fine. I’m more than fine. I’ll be ready to go on Friday. I’m healthy, I’m fine.”

Andrew Bynum’s first field goal Tuesday came a minute into the second half against Oklahoma City. Looking sluggish and uninterested, he failed to connect on five attempts in the first 24 minutes.
He did manage to come up with 11 points by the end, although five were from the free throw line. He was 3 of 9 from the field.
So what’s the deal? What happened to that awesome start by the young center?
First, Gasol came back from a hamstring injury, taking away some of his rebounds and touches in the low post.
Second, he caught an upper respiratory infection after the Utah loss and played through his illness during the Lakers’ five-game trip. Bynum averaged 10.4 points and 3.8 rebounds on eastern swing and was constantly in foul trouble.
Jackson said before Tuesday’s game he expected Bynum to show improvement after recovering from his upper respiratory woes and stuffy sinuses, which were compounded by his asthma (asthma?). Maybe next game.
A sniffling Bynum, however, said there really isn’t any need for concern about his numbers (i.e. mini-slump) that have been affected since Gasol’s return. A player’s statistics ebb and flow during the course of a season, he said before Tuesday’s game.
“It happens,” he said.

Luke Walton could start shooting and practicing in a couple of weeks, the first step in returning to game action.
Walton has been out for a month because of a pinched nerve in his lower back pain and underwent a procedure in November that helped alleviate the pain. He is expected to be re-evaluated at the end of this week and at that time a timetable for his return could be set, according to team spokesman John Black.