Marc Gasol squashes tank talk: 'I don't have a season to throw away'

The clock is ticking for Marc Gasol.

The Memphis Grizzlies' season has all but fallen off the rails. After a 7-12 start, the team fired head coach David Fizdale, but the Grizzlies have since won just four of 16 games under interim coach J.B. Bickerstaff. Add in the continued absence of floor general Mike Conley, who's been out since Nov. 15 with an injury to his Achilles, and you could excuse the Grizzlies for possibly considering packing in a lost season.

There's just one issue: Gasol, a 10-year veteran and three-time All-Star center, is adamant he doesn't have time to tank.

"My job is not allowing that to happen," Gasol recently told Ronald Tillery of The Commercial Appeal. "My job is not allowing anyone to throw away the season. Because at 32 - 33 next month - I don't have a season to throw away. I don’t have those. I don't have that luxury. I'm not 23, 24, where I can just say: 'Well, next year it's going to be better.'

"I have that sense of urgency and desire to win … I hope during the next five, six weeks before the break the situation has completely changed, turned around, and we are a much more consistent team going forward."

Though losing seasons don't fit into his career calendar, Gasol isn't quitting on the Grizzlies in hopes of winning elsewhere. After general manager Chris Wallace stated in November he wouldn't trade the 32-year-old to kickstart a rebuild, Gasol affirmed the team's fans he wouldn't demand a trade either, citing a responsibility to the city of Memphis.