Lamar Odom Lacks True Professionalism
Follow
By DERON SNYDER
The Los Angeles Lakers apparently broke Lamar Odom’s heart and crushed his spirit when they elected to trade him last December. The deal wasn’t approved, and the NBA’s reigning Sixth Man of the Year stayed in Hollywood momentarily. But the relationship was fractured, the damage was irreparable and the Lakers shipped him to the defending-champion Dallas Mavericks.
Odom should have thrived with the Mavericks, but he pouted instead. His indifference finally led owner Mark Cuban to confront Odom in the locker room last weekend. Shortly thereafter, Dallas told him to stay home for the rest of the season.
“Everybody goes through ups and downs,” Cuban told ESPNDallas.com on Tuesday. “Every player does. We tried to put him in a position to succeed … And I just asked him, does he want to go for it or not? Is he in or is he out? I think he thought we were playing poker. I just didn’t get a commitment. And that was the end.”
