The comparisons were made, distinctly and declaratively, before Lamar Odom had even landed in Los Angeles last July: He would be Scottie Pippen; Kobe Bryant would be Michael Jordan.
All that was missing was Phil Jackson. And, it turned out, the supporting cast of a championship-caliber team.
Then came Tuesday, when the Laker axis spun back toward Jackson, and the analogies began anew -- with none other than Jackson as the source.
If the Lakers are to improve upon last season's 34-48 debacle, Odom will have to be in the front seat, an important passenger wedged between Bryant and Jackson if playoff tickets are to be printed next April.
"This team has a tremendous player in Lamar Odom that I don't think people really saw the level at which he could play," Jackson said.
"As a guard-forward, a la a Scottie Pippen-type player that I've had in the past that has been tremendous in this type of offense, I would hope that Lamar could fill that kind of a shoe or that role in that way."
And with that, Jackson made clear that Odom would be a major part in a crisper, more disciplined triangle offense than the one trotted out as an attempted life preserver partway through last season.
"It's a compliment," Odom said. "I'm looking forward to the tutelage. I was talking to guys about how I've played under Pat Riley, Stan Van Gundy, Gregg Popovich, Larry Brown, Rudy [Tomjanovich], and now the Zen, Phil Jackson."
Odom, 25, has already been through four cycles in a six-year career that has touched heights and depths.
He was drafted No. 4 overall by the Clippers in 1999 and broke in as a 6-foot-10 point forward, moving the ball down court and distributing or driving from the perimeter as one of the game's best young versatile players.
But he lost top-option status in 2001 when Elton Brand arrived from the Chicago Bulls and fell into a two-year rut in which he missed 78 games because of injuries and eight because of violating the league's drug policy.
Clipper General Manager Elgin Baylor spoke of "issues of character" when the Clippers decided not to match a six-year, $65-million offer sheet Odom signed with the Miami Heat in 2003. Odom responded by showing the type of character that becomes a reliable post-up player in a structured offense that often depended on him. He averaged 17.1 points, 9.7 rebounds and 4.1 assists and joined Minnesota center Kevin Garnett as the only players to average 17 points, nine rebounds and four assists that season.
