Because You Wanted a 2nd Opinion

Last night Lamar Odom made his return to Los Angeles. Nothing seemed out of place as number 7 checked in off the bench and the reigning 6^th man of the year walked on to the court to his usual applause. Except this time he received a standing ovation and was wearing the away blue of the Dallas Mavericks. Jack Nicholson even was standing as Odom took the court only to be embraced by former teammate Derek Fisher.  He even hit a spot up three-pointer in front of the Los Angeles Laker bench while LL Cool J’s view was being obstructed by Laker coach Mike Brown. Yes, LL and myself were tweeting about that situation which is a different story altogether.

Odom was traded to the Mavericks before the beginning of the season after the original three-team trade with the New Orleans Hornets and Houston Rockets, which would have made Chris Paul a Laker, was vetoed by David Stern. Odom said his feelings were hurt because the Lakers had agreed to trade him. However, this wasn’t the first time Odom was subject to being part of a trade or trade rumors. In fact, every season Odom had been a member of the Lakers he was always involved in potential trades. So what brought about these hurt feelings? Was the possibility too real? Was it because he won a championship with the Lakers? Or is it because Lamar Odom had become Lamar Kardashian.

Odom is one of the most gifted players in the NBA; He is point guard in a center’s body. He can rebound, pass, score off the dribble or down in the block, and he can guard any position on the court. So why isn’t he considered one of the top 10 players in the NBA? Because he is full of potential but rarely plays up to it, he also sometimes takes plays off defensively. It also seems that since Lamar has become part of the Kardashian family he has lost his mental toughness and has become “Hollywood” so to speak. He used to leave Facebook posts and tweets about basketball and now the only updates that come from Odom are to catch episodes of “Khloe and Lamar”.

Personally I wouldn’t have cheered Odom; it was his choice to leave after the failed trade. Getting traded is part of the business and no one is above getting traded it could happen to anybody and the Lakers are known to make trades to get superstar caliber players in return.  If Odom was traded and it was beyond his control then he would deserve a standing ovation.  But why should a player who was asked to be traded receive a standing ovation? Especially, because the reason he asked for a trade is because his feelings were hurt. In the words of WWE Superstar Zack Ryder, “Are you serious bro?” Odom is 32-years-old and apparently hasn’t grown up if his feelings are hurt because of a trade.