Lamar Odom

by Phil Allen

He was born Lamar Joseph Odom. He never knew his father and his mother died when he was 12.

Lamar took early to the game of basketball. The courts of Jamaica Queens, N.Y. served as the training ground for a player that knew early he was special. At 10 he played point guard on teams with 15 year olds. At 15 he was playing pickup games with players already in the NBA.

Odom only played one year of college ball at the University of Rhode Island. Probably the best player to ever come from the Atlantic 10 division he led Rhode Island to their only conference Championship.

At age 19 Lamar entered the NBA draft where he was picked 4th in the 1999 draft by the Los Angles Clippers. With the Clippers he had an immediate impact and became the youngest player in NBA history to become a co-captain. He spent another 3 often injured years with the Clippers and then moved on the Miami Heat. With the Heat he had an all-star year averaging 17 ppg and 10 rbs. He then was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers as part of the Shaquille O’Neal trade.

As member of the Lakers Lamar has averaged 15 ppg, 9 rbs and 5 assists. His play has slowly improved all year and he seems to have found a grove in playing alongside Kobe Bryant.

Lamar seems to love it in L.A. and here’s some recent takes of his on some of his Lakers teammates.

On Kobe, “Kobe is the best offensive player in the league and there will be nights he goes off, but there are still little things to be done. He can carry us at times, but everyone has to contribute in some way for us to win basketball games. And of course when we get everyone involved in the offense it helps our chances a lot.”

On Andrew Bynum, “Andrew is getting better every day. I don’t think we need big-time numbers from him, just big minutes. He’s a legit guy and he gets to work with Kareem every day. He will keep improving and I look forward to him really helping us protect the basket on defense.”

On Jimmy Jackson, “More than his scoring what’s important is to have veteran leadership. We missed Aaron McKie when he got hurt, not just on the floor but in the locker room, and at this time of year it’s important to have guys who have been here before and knowing what it takes to win games. His scoring is nice, but he’s a leader, too.”

On Ronny Turiaf, “Definitely. He has tremendous energy, a great personality and a great teammate. We could have used him earlier this year and he definitely has a long career ahead of him.”

On the triangle offense Odom says, “I think it fits my game, it just takes some time to get used to. It’s an intricate offense and it takes at least a full season to know it inside and out. I’ve had times where I’ve flourished and others when it’s hard to find my way around. But I feel comfortable now and I feel I can do anything in it, but I still feel I haven’t reached my potential in this system. Another year or two with Kobe in this offense we’re going to be competing for a championship.”

‘Kobe is one of my favorite players to ever play with and I’ve learned a lot from him, ” Lamar says of the Lakers first option.

He hopes to end his career with the Lakers he said recently.

Lakers fans everywhere would likely applaud that.

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