Who knew?

I did not.

I knew that Pau Gasol was a polite and intelligent guy, from my days of covering the Los Angeles Lakers. A Catalan, from Spain, but whose English was very good. Parents both involved in medicine. And the 7-foot thing, with a small man’s dexterity.

I knew that teammates liked him, but that he sometimes didn’t bring that sort of snarling on-court presence which seems to travel well in the NBA.

Turns out … he is a really nice guy — or certainly is making a prolonged effort to show that side of himself to the world.

As Grantland noted today, in a piece focused on #paugasol and his relentlessly supportive and upbeat tweeting.

The worldwide web can be a dark place. Lots of trolls out there, ready to attack and criticize and demean, usually behind false identities. It can be depressing. (Should see the blog comments I don’t post.)

And then along comes Pau Gasol. Taking advantage of social media to post uplifting comments. What a concept.

Often simple things, like “I hope Mike Miller’s injury isn’t bad” … and others full of generosity, like when he pledged $1,000 per point he scored in a game, to raise relief funds for the Philippines after the big typhoon there.

After I became a follower (No. 2,383,419) I came across a tweet about Pau and his brother, Marc, visiting a sick child at the St. Jude hospital in Memphis.

It’s refreshing. It is. And he has been doing this for a long time, but I found out about it on December 18 … so it’s practically a Christmas miracle!

Good work, Pau. Keep it up. And I’m happy to hear that the Lakers have backed off on their efforts to trade you.