Khloe Kardashian

Reporting from Dallas -- The half-eaten gourmet omelet sits idly next to the ignored biscuits and potatoes. It's obvious some of this Lakers stuff still bothers Lamar Odom. The popular Lakers forward became the former Lakers forward last month, a turbulent time that had him running the scale of emotions in a breakfast interview Saturday with The Times. He was involved in the most awkward trade veto in NBA history when Commissioner David Stern blocked the deal that would have sent Odom to New Orleans, Pau Gasol to Houston and Chris Paul to the Lakers.

OK, Lakers Coach Phil Jackson said with a smile after practice Tuesday, call Lamar Odom "our handyman. " And this will be another season in which Odom plays the handyman role in the frontcourt. With center Andrew Bynum rehabilitating his surgically repaired right knee, and with Pau Gasol moving to center, Odom will start at power forward when the Lakers open the regular season Oct. 26 against the Houston Rockets. But that's nothing new for the 6-foot-10 Odom. He started the first 11 regular-season games last season when Gasol was out with a hamstring injury.

The Dallas Mavericks and Lamar Odom have parted ways. The NBA's reigning sixth man of the year and the defending NBA champions who are trying to make sure they get back to the playoffs made it clear Monday that their partnership is over after an underwhelming 50-game stint. "We've got to be able to look down that bench and count on folks to be consistent," General Manager Donnie Nelson said. "Unfortunately, with him in his state right now, he's just not capable of doing that.

Lamar Odom won his second consecutive NBA championship in June playing for his team, the Lakers. Now he's trying to win his first world championship in September playing for his country, the United States. Odom is the starting center for Team USA in the FIBA World Championship in Turkey, on a team that some consider too small and too inexperienced to become champions. But his team finished Group B play with a 5-0 record after beating Tunisia, 92-57, on Thursday and advances to the round of 16 with a No.1 seeding.

Lamar Odom leaned forward at lunch, his eyes bright, a smile on his face, as he explained his thoughts about the inner peace he has found. Odom said it took some "spiritual and psychological counseling" to find the necessary resolve to gather himself. And he has embraced the process since becoming a Clipper again in June. "My focus is a lot stronger," Odom said. "I had to take care of myself mentally before anything else. "Because of life's burdens or anything that … didn't go my way or that hurt me, it started to weigh.

Lamar Odom is done playing for the Dallas Mavericks. Will any other NBA team take a chance on the enigmatic 6-foot-10 forward who is less than a year removed from winning the league's sixth man of the year award? Or perhaps the better question is, should someone give him another shot? Odom was known for his inconsistency during his seven seasons with the Lakers. But, by definition, that means there were good and bad times on the court for Odom in L.A. And particularly in the last few years, there seemed to be more good than bad, with Odom appearing to pull it all together last season by being named the league's best player off the bench.

Whenever adversity flew in Lamar Odom's face, he pushed it right back. Instead of drowning in sorrow about his deceased family members, Odom inscribed their name on his shoes before every game. After initially stewing over a bench role with the Lakers four years ago, Odom laughed at the triviality of it all last season and became the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year. Shortly after witnessing his infant son's death and getting robbed at gunpoint six summers ago, Odom soon used the following NBA season as a refuge.

Brody Jenner is joining "Keeping Up With the Kardashians. " The son of Olympic gold medalist Bruce Jenner, patriarch of the Kardashian/Jenner clan, will be joining the E! series' season along with brother Brandon Jenner and his wife, Leah, according to stepsister Khloe Kardashian. "I'm always excited for each new season of Keeping Up with the Kardashians," Kardashian wrote on her blog Monday. "But I'm especially excited for this upcoming season because you're going to be seeing a lot more of the Kardashian/Jenner clan!

Her reality show with husband Lamar Odom is on indefinite hiatus and reports continue to circulate that she will not be asked back as a host of "The X Factor," where she seemed awkward and ill-prepared. But Khloe Kardashian's show business career apparently isn't completely on the skids. Kardashian, along with her mother, Kris Jenner, will be among the guest stars on the second season of "Real Husbands of Hollywood," BET's spoof of "The Real Housewives" franchise. The show, about a group of male celebrities married to famous wives, has just been renewed for a second season.

Fighting mediocre sales and a sluggish economy, retailers are finding there's a booming market for plus-size clothing. While the category has been getting notice for years, clothing companies desperate for sales see zooming growth in dressing America's expanding waistline. Many are opening specialty stores, expanding plus-size departments and targeting ads directly to the curvy woman. Cheap chic clothier H&M began rolling out plus-size sections in stores this February. The Limited will open stores by next year for a new larger-sized line, and Lucky Brand just launched a line of roomy denim and tops.