Lamar Odom: Troubles in the NBA by Lauren Beasley
Okay, no we all know that this season Lamar Odom has had his share of problems on and off the court but mainly on the court.
It all started after Odom was traded by the Los Angeles Lakers to the Dallas Mavericks. Now this wasn’t really shock to many people because Lakers had talked about trading Odom since the off season but for some reason Odom didn’t think that would happen.
Unfortunately for him he did end up getting traded and he wasn’t happy about it, he clearly stated on social networks that he didn’t approve of the Lakes trading him.
Now in my opinion, Odom actions after he was traded were very childish and immature. The NBA is a business, so there always be some movement and trades going around, if you can’t handle being traded then you don’t need to play in the NBA.
Once Odom was in Dallas, he struggled to find a comfortable balance, at first we thought it was because he was unfamiliar with the team and offense. However it became very clear that Odom’s horrible play came down to him still being unhappy about the trade.
Odom continued to play horribly and finally Dallas Mavericks Head Coach Ric Carlisle decided to make a statement but downgrading Odom to the NBA D-League.
Personally I was happy with the move Carlisle made. Odom is supposed to be a professional athlete along with a grown man, there is no reason for him to have behaved that way.
Once Odom was sent to the D-League briefly, most hopped he would finally play like the great sixth man we all once knew him to be but no such luck this time around.
So finally Dallas Mavericks organization had enough and decided to dismiss Odom and rightfully so Odom didn’t fight it.
Now recently the Mavericks were swept in the playoffs by the Oklahoma City Thunder and the true feelings of the Mavericks came out in a locker room vote Sunday, when they decided not to include Odom in their share of playoff money.
A team source confirmed that Odom will miss out on about a $14,000 playoff share.
Once again I like this vote by the Mavericks; he doesn’t deserve to receive any of that money. He did nothing to help them.
Odom hasn't been with the team since Cuban dismissed the forward from the team at halftime of the Mavs' game at Memphis on April 7.
Maverick’s Dirk Nowitzki made a comment on Odom.
"If the Lamar thing would have worked out and if he would have played like the year before when he was the best sixth man, I think we would have had a shot," Dirk Nowitzki said of going deeper in the playoffs. "It would have given us another playmaker, another guy that's long, that can defend and rebound.
Maverick’s Shawn Marion shares a similar opinion to Nowitzki.
"I think we were hoping he would be able to come in and contribute and help us win this year, but it just didn't work out that way," Shawn Marion added. "I think it is what it is, it's (losing in the first round) not his fault and it's not nobody's, it's all our faults collectively. You can't put it on one person."
"But for whatever reason the stuff he was going through off the court was just too much. He couldn't help us the way he wanted, the way we wanted, and we had to move on without him."
The Mavs will attempt to trade Odom. Any team that has him on its roster as of June 29 must buy him out by that date for $2.4 million or otherwise accept responsibility for the full $8.2 million that he is scheduled to make in 2012-13.
It all started after Odom was traded by the Los Angeles Lakers to the Dallas Mavericks. Now this wasn’t really shock to many people because Lakers had talked about trading Odom since the off season but for some reason Odom didn’t think that would happen.
Unfortunately for him he did end up getting traded and he wasn’t happy about it, he clearly stated on social networks that he didn’t approve of the Lakes trading him.
Now in my opinion, Odom actions after he was traded were very childish and immature. The NBA is a business, so there always be some movement and trades going around, if you can’t handle being traded then you don’t need to play in the NBA.
Once Odom was in Dallas, he struggled to find a comfortable balance, at first we thought it was because he was unfamiliar with the team and offense. However it became very clear that Odom’s horrible play came down to him still being unhappy about the trade.
Odom continued to play horribly and finally Dallas Mavericks Head Coach Ric Carlisle decided to make a statement but downgrading Odom to the NBA D-League.
Personally I was happy with the move Carlisle made. Odom is supposed to be a professional athlete along with a grown man, there is no reason for him to have behaved that way.
Once Odom was sent to the D-League briefly, most hopped he would finally play like the great sixth man we all once knew him to be but no such luck this time around.
So finally Dallas Mavericks organization had enough and decided to dismiss Odom and rightfully so Odom didn’t fight it.
Now recently the Mavericks were swept in the playoffs by the Oklahoma City Thunder and the true feelings of the Mavericks came out in a locker room vote Sunday, when they decided not to include Odom in their share of playoff money.
A team source confirmed that Odom will miss out on about a $14,000 playoff share.
Once again I like this vote by the Mavericks; he doesn’t deserve to receive any of that money. He did nothing to help them.
Odom hasn't been with the team since Cuban dismissed the forward from the team at halftime of the Mavs' game at Memphis on April 7.
Maverick’s Dirk Nowitzki made a comment on Odom.
"If the Lamar thing would have worked out and if he would have played like the year before when he was the best sixth man, I think we would have had a shot," Dirk Nowitzki said of going deeper in the playoffs. "It would have given us another playmaker, another guy that's long, that can defend and rebound.
Maverick’s Shawn Marion shares a similar opinion to Nowitzki.
"I think we were hoping he would be able to come in and contribute and help us win this year, but it just didn't work out that way," Shawn Marion added. "I think it is what it is, it's (losing in the first round) not his fault and it's not nobody's, it's all our faults collectively. You can't put it on one person."
"But for whatever reason the stuff he was going through off the court was just too much. He couldn't help us the way he wanted, the way we wanted, and we had to move on without him."
The Mavs will attempt to trade Odom. Any team that has him on its roster as of June 29 must buy him out by that date for $2.4 million or otherwise accept responsibility for the full $8.2 million that he is scheduled to make in 2012-13.