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BARCELONA, Spain -- With Dwight Howard gone and Kobe Bryant injured, Pau Gasol is looking to reassert himself as a leader of the Los Angeles Lakers. Knees allowing, he wants to be the dominant player of old who helped Bryant & Co. win NBA titles in 2009 and 2010. "I think I have the most uncertain period behind me," Gasol told The Associated Press on Tuesday. "The team has suffered a lot of changes, but as far as me, I am back in the position of a lot of responsibility, which I like, and Im just going to focus on getting healthy." "Now with Dwight gone I am the reference inside and I am more like I was a couple of years back when we made the finals three straight times and won two straight championships," he added. The Lakers are at especially difficult point, with Howard snubbing the storied club to sign with the Houston Rockets, and Bryant, its heart and soul, out indefinitely recovering from a torn Achilles tendon. Gasol wasnt surprised by Howards decision to leave after just one season because it was "always a possibility." He described his former teammate a "nice guy" and a "hard worker." Gasol spoke to the AP in the Barcelona airport, where he had just returned from a trip as a UNICEF goodwill ambassador to a refugee camp established in Iraq for the thousands fleeing the violence in neighbouring Syria. Gasol called attention to the shortages of water, medicine and schools in the camp that was built for 15,000 but has taken in 50,000. Gasol said this sort of work gives balance to his life as a pro athlete and the commotion surrounding his team, especially during last season when the Lakers were swept in the first round of the playoffs after beginning the year as a title contender. "Ive made five trips to the field (with UNICEF) and seen all kinds of different things and people suffering a lot of different situations," Gasol said. "Obviously, it puts things in perspective, and all the other things I might deal with my team or with my profession are much less important or meaningful than the lives of people that are on the line every day." In September, Pau and brother Marc Gasol, a centre for the Memphis Grizzlies, will be launching the "Gasol Foundation," which is focused on childrens health. Despite the loss of Howard, Bryants injury and a disappointing year, the Lakers are not overhauling the team. Instead, they seem prepared to wait for Bryant to get healthy and go for another run with him and Gasol as their pillars. The Lakers did waive Metta World Peace, but they signed Nick Young, Jordan Farmar and Wesley Johnson and Chris Kaman. Yet even with Howard off to Texas, there are still two factors that will play an important role in whether Gasol can return to peak form at age 33 and entering his 13th season in the league: his health and his coach. Gasol had surgery followed by stem cell treatment on both knees in May. He said that after resting for most of this summer he is increasing the intensity of his rehab. "These next two months are the key months to find out how they really are," he said, adding that he wasnt in pain. And while Gasol wants to again be the Lakers second scorer after Bryant, he still hasnt heard if coach Mike DAntoni agrees. The Spaniard said that he had spoken to Bryant, point guard Steve Nash, and general manager Mitch Kupchak about the team after Howard decided to leave, but he has yet to speak to DAntoni. Gasol had a rough first season with the former Suns and Knicks coach and lost his guaranteed starters job. Nevertheless, Gasol is looking forward to this season. DAntoni "had a tough position, I had a tough position," Gasol said. "I had a job to do, he had a job to do, so there really is no mystery. I know he had challenges. It was a very challenging season. Next season is a different one and a new chapter. So well start out fresh and do our best." A career scorer of 18-plus points a game, Gasol had his worst scoring season in 2012-13, averaging 13.7. Now the four-time All Star is aiming to bounce back. "I have a great motivation," he said. "Its the last year of my contract so I want to get back to being one of the top players in the league." Buy Shoes Ireland . -- If this was Aaron Gordons final home game at Arizona, and it almost certainly was, then he went out in style. Shoes Ireland On Sale . Pedro scored from a pass by Lionel Messi in the 33rd minute and added two more goals in the 47th and 72nd after Valdes saved his second penalty in four days following his stop in Wednesdays 4-0 over Ajax in the Champions League. https://www.shoesirelandsale.com/ . -- The plastic that was taped across the lockers in Oaklands clubhouse came down and the champagne that was on ice went back into the cooler. Wholesale Shoes Ireland . What general manager Dave Nonis called "short and productive" negotiations ended with Kessel signing a US$64-million, eight-year contract on Tuesday. Discount Shoes Ireland . The 27-year-old Scrivens will be joining his third NHL club since signing with the Toronto Maple Leafs as a free agent in 2010. The move also reunites with him with head coach Dallas Eakins from their time together with the American Hockey Leagues Toronto Marlies. Showtimes four-month dry spell with no major fights from August through November is finally coming to an end with the announcement of five new fight cards on Tuesday, all of which look promising.Seven total bouts were announced, with the promise from Stephen Espinoza, the Showtime Sports boss, that each card would ultimately be at least a doubleheader, so that means there are still more bouts to be announced.Espinoza said getting everything done and ready to announce at once was like herding cats. While most of the bouts have been expected it was nice to see them finally official with dates laid out, even if some dont have locations yet.Espinoza is a lifelong boxing fan, so when I spoke to him about the new schedule, I asked him which fight he was looking forward to most. He was political with his answer.Its like choosing among your children, he said, laughing. Were proud of every single one of these fights. We have a rematch of the possible fight of the year [between featherweight titlist Carl Frampton and Leo Santa Cruz], we have Keith Thurman against Danny Garcia. Thats the most attractive fight that can be made in the welterweight division. Weve looked forward to the Badou Jack-James DeGale fight. We have a lot of good fights.Adrien Broner is in a really tough matchup against Adrian Granados that is an intriguing match of styles. The [Jermall] Charlo-Julian Williams fight is a really attractive fight, [Jesus] Cuellar and [Abner] Mares are never in a bad fight and you have Mikey Garcia fighting [Dejan] Zlaticanin, a guy nobody else in the lightweight division wants to fight. Its really hard to choose. I cant pick. You look at these fights and maybe theres a slight favorite but you can make a case for either fighter in every fight. Thats why were so proud of this slate of fights.If he doesnt want to tell me his favorite one, Ill tell him and all of you mine. Heres how I rank the bouts announced this week:1. Thurman-Garcia (March 4): To me, its a no-brainer for this one to be in the top spot. Its a fight fans have been anxious for. Theyre both undefeated, both in their prime, both fight in crowd-pleasing styles and they are meeting to unify world titles in the welterweight division, arguably the best in boxing. If you go by my ESPN divisional rankings it matches No. 1 (Thurman) against No. 4 (Garcia, who is only that low because he has had two bouts in the division and neither against a top opponent). The fight also might wind up on CBS, Showtimes sister network, rather than premium cable. Thurman (27-0, 22 KOs) will be taking on the best opponent of his career and Garcia (32-0, 18 KOs), who still has to win a tune-up fight against Samuel Vargas on Nov. 12 in a bout the world could do without, will finally be taking on an elite opponent for the first time since upsetting Lucas Matthysse in a 2013 junior welterweight title fight.2. Frampton-Santa Cruz II (Jan. 28): Frampton left behind his two title belts at junior featherweight and moved up to challenge Santa Cruz for his featherweight belt on July 30. They produced a bona fide fight of the year contender, which Frampton (23-0, 14 KOs) won by majority decision. Santa Cruz (32-1-1, 18 KOs) immediately exercised his right to an immediate rematch and I thank him for doing so. Its hard to imagine the sequel, which matches No.dddddddddddd 1 vs. No. 2 in the division, being anything but another outstanding scrap.3. Jack-DeGale (Jan. 14): Jack (20-1-2, 12 KOs) and DeGale (23-1, 14 KOs) were supposed to meet in the fourth quarter of this year but for a variety of reasons it was delayed until early 2017. Its a small price to pay for another No. 1 vs. No. 2 showdown as they will meet to determine division supremacy and also to unify their super middleweight world titles. Neither fighter has a reputation for being in great fights but do have a reputation for fighting to the level of their opponent, which means they should battle it out at a very high level.4. Charlo-Williams (Dec. 10): In the co-feature of this show, Charlo (24-0, 18 KOs), No. 3 in the ESPN junior middleweight rankings, will defend his belt against No. 6 Williams (22-0-1, 14 KOs) in a mandatory fight that has been anticipated for the past year. Stylistically, it looks like an exciting fight between skilled boxers who pack a solid punch and who will be facing their most dangerous opponent. They dont seem to care for each other either, which could also make the build up fun.5. Zlaticanin-Garcia (Jan. 28): No. 3 Zlaticanin (18-0, 11 KOs) is really good and the sort of guy nobody has been calling out -- except for Garcia (35-0, 29 KOs). Zlaticanin is an all-out attacker while Garcia, a former featherweight and junior lightweight titlist who I have No. 10 at junior welterweight, is the epitome of a controlled boxer-puncher. Garcia came back from a long layoff in July and fought as a junior welterweight but said from the outset he planned to go down to lightweight. Here he is taking on a top-notch opponent in a fight, the co-feature, which I think could be very explosive and go either way.6. Cuellar-Mares (Dec. 10): This is the main event of the card and figures to be a highly competitive and fan-friendly fight if they live up to their reputations. No. 6 Cuellar (29-1, 21 KOs), who will be defending his secondary featherweight title, and No. 5 Mares (29-2-1, 15 KOs), a former three-division titleholder, could be the sleeper of this slate of fights. Adding to its significance is that the winner will be the mandatory for the Frampton-Santa Cruz II winner.7. Broner-Granados (Feb. 11): This fight might rank last but that is not an indictment of the match, rather a statement on the strength of the overall Showtime schedule. No.3 Broner (32-2, 24 KOs), a four-division titlist, had been on track to challenge junior welterweight titlist Ricky Burns in an attempt to win back the belt stripped from him for missing weight before an April victory, but Burns suffered a perforated eardrum during his Oct. 7 victory against Kiryl Relikh and was not available, according to Espinoza. Granados (18-4-2, 12 KOs), unranked in the top 10, is no pushover whatsoever despite the modest record. A closer look reveals that all four losses came by way of split or majority decision to opponents with a combined record of 52-1. Broner is more talented but if he is not prepared and takes Granados lightly, he will find himself in a world of trouble. ' ' '