05/03/2007 - 09:33
Heart of a Champion
by
David Neiman
LO left it all on the floor Thursday, scoring a career playoff high 33 points to go with 10 rebounds, but even his superb performance was not enough. The Lakers fell to the Phoenix Suns last night, 119-110, giving Phoenix a 4-1 win in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs.
No. 7 rallied Los Angeles just as he had in Game 4, scoring 16 points in the third quarter. Still, the Lakers came up short. As LO told the Los Angeles Times:
"It's too bad we started the season with ups instead of ending with them," Odom said. "We got beat … and it's time to go home."
Despite Los Angeles' failure to move on in the postseason, Lamar earned tremendous respect for his effort in the series, playing through a torn labrum, hyperextended elbow, injured knee and stitches to turn in some of the most outstanding games of his career.
Marc Stein of ESPN.com led the praise:
If there's been a braver player in the NBA this season, I'd love to hear about him. Because I don't see one.
After long-term knee and shoulder injuries -- which followed the unspeakable loss of his six-month-old son over the summer -- Odom just keeps playing on, trying as hard as he can to be Kobe's Scottie Pippin.
He's still not there, agreed, but I don't think he ever had a chance this season. Not after a bad knee sprain in December and definitely not after the shoulder tear he suffered in March, which should have sent him to surgery if Odom hadn't vowed to delay the operation until after the season.
There was also a hyperextended elbow Odom picked up during the Phoenix series, as if the man with the NBA's heaviest heart hadn't suffered enough.
(An aside: The first thing that catches your eye when you walk into the Lakers' locker room is a supersized white T-shirt hanging in Odom's locker, sporting the smiling likeness of his late son Jayden. Basketball might be his sanctuary, but Odom was intent on keeping Jayden's spirit close by even at work.)
Tony Mejia of CBS Sportsline expressed similar sentiments:
It was great to see Odom go down swinging after the year he's had, finishing with a career playoff-high 33 points. Odom, truly one of the good guys, experienced a terrible personal tragedy when he lost his infant son in the offseason, and still fought through that pain along with elbow, shoulder and knee issues to lift the Lakers as best he could. Before his body started betraying him, he was playing the best basketball of his career, incredible considering what his mental state had to have been. If you want someone to root for, pick that guy. Fighting through that type of adversity? Simply admirable.
CHANGES AFOOT?
The sad reality for LO: His courage during the playoffs only reaffirmed that outside of Kobe Bryant, he is the most valuable piece of the current Lakers roster, which many feel needs to be overhauled.
"I love it here," Odom told Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times and ESPN's "Around the Horn." "I hope I have done enough to prove that I belong here the rest of my career. But as a team, sometimes you get stuck between a rock and a hard place. We're expected to win, and we haven't won, and they're going to do everything they can to get back to winning."
However, many experts -- including Chad Ford of ESPN.com -- feel that Los Angeles is best off keeping LO on its roster:
"I'm not sure I trade Odom. To me he's the perfect fit in LA."
RELATED STORIES
Lakers Go With No Flow (May 3, 2007, Los Angeles Times)
Lakers/Suns Game 5 Boxscore (May 2, 2007, NBA.com)
After Disappointing Season, Kobe Wants Changes Now (May 3, 2007, ESPN.com)
Top 10 Playoff Truths (May 3, 2007, CBS Sportsline)
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keep him
If the lakers, for any reason, get rid of Lamar Odom over the off-season they are pretty much getting rid of their whole team. I dont care what anyone has to say about Kobe Bryant I know he is maybe the best player we have in the NBA but what happens when you get rid of a man that played through a torn labrum, a hyperextended elbow, an injured knee, and the weight of the death of his infant child over the off-season I don't know of many guys that would play through that. Thats a heart that I dont think even Kobe has. I have all the respect in the world for this man. If you get rid of him whos your Power Forward? Without him this team is nothing. Hes does about as much as Kobe has but Kobe gets all the attention because hes going out there and scoring 50 points each night. Lamar averages 10 rebounds a game 15 points a game and 5 assists a game. Tell me who is the second man if they get rid of him for say another Kwame Brown wanna-be.
IF LAMAR GOES THIS TEAM GOES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Greatness in Lamar...
I don't care what anyone says, but in this playoff series, you played with more heart than anyone on the squad. You played like a man on a mission and for that, you deserve to be sporting Purple and Gold. I really hope that you'll comeback next season. You showed the detractors that you can play at an elite level. The mental aspect that the haters said you lacked was apparent. This series showed me that there is truely greatness in you...it just a matter of time when they'll all realize that.
One of your biggest fans, no joke.
Lamar Odom is one of the most versatile players in the NBA and I would be shocked if he isn't an All-Star next year hoping that he has a healthy season. I love the quote by Pat Riley saying that Lamar is the only player capable of playing like Magic. Magic, hands down, is the best of all time, and to put Odom in that category is just awesome. I have been a die hard laker fan since the Del Harris era. I'm only 19 but I bleed purple and gold. Odom is my favorite player. I just love how he plays. When I play in my college's intramural league, I try to imitate him (but i'm right handed). He does it all--"A walking tripple-double." And this series he has proven that he's a warrior and is capable of taking games over. He can't be traded. If Odom can play at the level that everyone knows that he is capable of, him and Kobe can go a long way. I believe that they just need one more piece to the puzzle. Garnett, Jermaine O'neal, or Kidd--adding one of these guys, i'm positive that the Lakers will once again become contenders. DON'T TRADE LAMAR ODOM!!!
Lamar you gave it your all
Lamar you gave it your all last night and I salute you! As far as the trade rumors flying around, its sicken me, I think that it would be in the Lakers best interest to keep you as a Laker! I'm sending prayers up that you will remain a Laker!
KEEP ODOM!
I hope thatthe LAKERS keep odom, that guy is a warrior. Keep Odom, get rid of Sasha, Smoosh, Kwame, And BYNUM!
I still think that the LAKERS had a good season, Kobe is the man, Luke plays with heart, Odom never complains and gives everything he has, rodney has a great vibe, Evans needs to shoot more cause he has the ability, Jordan has great potential, and lets get a K. G. Over here!
Lamar is the TRUE CHAMP
Even though we didn't go far into the playoff, i have tip my hat off to lamar for not quitting. He plays with so much passion and puts all of it onto the court, injuries or not; he plays with heart. I hope the Lakers keep him, it would be the saddest day if we let him go. His an all-star, why would we get rid of him. The City of Angels Loves HIm. Lamar Odom is a true CHAMP.