Pau Gasol: Here’s the Lakers’ center trying to clear up all those scurrilous rumors about his girlfriend (Silvia Lopez Castro), Kobe Bryant, and Kobe Bryant’s wife: “My girlfriend and I are fine, we’re happy, we’re doing well. Kobe and I are fine … “She [Lopez Castro] was suffering because she saw me suffering. And I was suffering because I was seeing her suffering. When you add that to other stuff to what’s already happening, it’s tough.” Sounds like a vicious cycle of suffering. ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne did a terrific job tracking Gasol down in the parking lot, but she makes no mention of how this story went mainstream: BILL PLASCHKE. If he doesn’t mention this story in his column, the story has no legs. [ESPN LA]