The newest ESPN The Magazine discusses the change of scenery for various NBA vets who put on new jerseys in mid February. Pau Gasol's story intrigues me:

He did spend a fair amount of time at first scouring flight schedules. As Hollywood celebrated the Feb. 1 deal that shipped off out-of-favor Kwame Brown (plus promising rookie guard Javaris Crittenton, the draft rights to Pau's brother Marc and two future first-round picks), Gasol zigzagged the country. Five hours after being told he was moving, he was on a plane to LA to have his sore back examined. The next day, he jetted back east to meet his new teammates, in Washington to play the Wizards, before heading to Memphis to grab a few belongings. Then it was off to New Jersey to help the Lakers battle the Nets. That's 5,575 miles on a bad back—all commercial—in 72 hours, which makes a 24-point, 12-rebound debut in the Meadowlands only more impressive. (It may also explain why he went flat the next night in a loss to the Hawks.)

So you are telling me that the Lakers just traded for a man who was about to change their ($529 million-worth) franchise, who was on the books for 4 years and $63 million, who had a bad back, and you made him criss-cross the nation on a commercial plane? I find that hard to believe. If the Lakers didn't spring for the charter, you'd think Gasol could have forked over the $50K or so to rent a plane for a few days. I know I would have.