The question on almost every Laker’s fan’s mind, besides how they’re going to fill the Staples Center, is if Pau Gasol will be staying in Los Angeles. While much of the internet has come to the conclusion that Pau Gasol’s tenure with the Lakers is “likely” and “appears” to be coming to an end, Gasol, jovial as usual took to the Hoy Deportes stage at the L.A. Times Festival of Books on April 12 to talk about his book “Life · Vida” and to answer some Lakers’ fan questions.

A couple hours before the event, an ESPN reporter noted that Gasol did not participate in Saturday’s practice just before the talk:

Pau and Nash did not practice Saturday. Kaman went through limited basketball related activities.

— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) April 12, 2014

Gasol has recently been suffering from bouts of vertigo and has sat out of eight of the nine Lakers games this season. Greeting the stage with a warm “Buenos dias, ¿que tal amigos?” Gasol responded to questions during the half-hour talk in both Spanish and English.

“Life · Vida” is both a photographic look into his daily life on and off the court and a memoir about his thoughts on being a good person, family and cultural pride in both English and Spanish. According to Gasol, the book’s proceeds go directly to the Gasol foundation which supports efforts to reduce childhood obesity.

“The impact that I can have on children is very powerful so I like to make a free time to making a difference with kids who are having a difficult or struggling” Gasol said. The foundation, established by his younger brother Marc and him, will be celebrating its one-year anniversary in May. “Kids can sometimes be too honest and can sometimes pick on kids who can be too different...I stood out I wasn’t a regular guy”

Towards the end of the talk, Gasol was able to answer some questions from fans in the crowd. One asked him what was his favorite food was, to which he said “variety” and another regarding whether or not he likes to cook -- he likes to grill. Almost everyone thanked him for either what he was doing in the community or for the Lakers. And finally someone asked about the elephant in the room, if he knew himself if he was going to stay in LA.

“First off, I really appreciate your support. We have the best fans here in LA. There’s just a lot of question marks right now” was the extent of his response to whether or not he will be staying in L.A.

Contact Staff Reporter Kevin Tsukii here.