Question: Are we unfair to Lamar Odom?
Do we ask too much, expect too much, grow too frustrated when we watch him play, wondering all the while why No. 7 isn't living up to what we just know he should be: one of the greats, the next Pippen, the purple-and-gold Robin to Batman Kobe?
Answer: Yes, to all of the above. We are unfair to Lamar Odom, and that's too bad because it's something that keeps him from being fully appreciated.
Odom is the Lakers' great enigma, perhaps the most perplexing, confounding, frustrating player in the NBA. One moment he's brilliant and daring (Lakers vs. Utah, second-round playoffs, 2008, with an 18.2 scoring average). Next moment he's, well, he's out there on the hardwood sort of fumbling about, timid and unsure (Boston, NBA Finals, also 2008, 13.5 scoring average partially propped-up by garbage-time jump shots).
We look at that 6-foot-10 body, at his pterodactyl wingspan, his vast portfolio of skills, and think: "Perennial All-Star." Then we find that in nine years Odom has never been to an All-Star game but a journeyman like Wally Szczerbiak has and our first reaction is that this is utterly maddening and pretty much a waste of great talent.
It's not only us. This preseason, the Lakers have certainly appeared frustrated.
We're a few days from season's start and here's a quick rundown of training camp: Oddly, perplexingly, in the last year of his contract, a year in which he needs to come as close to his potential as possible so that his next contract will be a fat one, Odom comes to camp out of shape. Phil Jackson then says Odom may end up coming off the bench this season. The two trade barbs. Jackson: Odom looks as if he's curling, not playing basketball. Odom: Jackson must be out of his (insert phrase unsuitable for publication here) "mind."
More recently, Jackson begins to play nice but does not let on about whether Odom will be a starter.
For his part, Odom -- possibly because he knows it doesn't pay to rock the boat during a contract year, but also because he's as good a dude as you'll find in the NBA -- plays the role of front-line soldier: "You know, I can't control that," he says of the possibility of playing as a reserve for the first time in his career. "That is one thing I won't lose sleep over or toss and turn over. I'll just go out there and play hard. Manu Ginobili doesn't start and everybody knows how important he is for that team."
