So Kobe Bryant gets asked Tuesday how much time he really took off after the end of the Olympics, and he proceeds to explain that he dared not take too much time off because he did not want to lose the premium physical state that he had going and it’s not wise to have to rebuild everything.
A few minutes later and a few feet over, Lamar Odom is asked about his offseason. His response:
“I had to relax, you know. I had to let that [knee] tendinitis calm down and just take some time off. I feel good.
“Sometimes, with that tendinitis, the best thing to do is absolutely nothing. Just lay on the beach with some good company and a Corona, if that’s your preference, whatever. Just kind of just chill out, take it easy and kind of build back up from the beginning. Because tendinitis is funny the way it reacts, I don’t mind letting myself — I’m not saying get out of shape but letting myself just chill out a little bit, just to build everything back up.”
That’s the independent-thinking L.O. for you. He’s a really, really nice guy who has proved to be something of a quandary for Phil Jackson and everyone else to figure out. This season, in the weird spot of being sort of a lame-duck player, Odom is going in way too worried about whether he remains a starter. Just do your thing, and it’ll all work out.
I do not believe Jackson is just trying to motivate Odom by floating this idea of starting Trevor Ariza over Odom. Jackson really came away from the NBA Finals failures thinking that Odom’s versatility and fast-breaking prowess could be a boon off the bench.
Here’s what I wrote back in June after Odom’s season-ending exit meeting with Jackson …
It’s even conceivable that Jackson – who concerns himself far more with having his best players on the floor at the end of games than the beginning – would start Trevor Ariza, Luke Walton or Vladimir Radmanovic at small forward and move Odom to the bench. From there, Odom could work more with the Jordan Farmar-led second unit that plays the up-tempo game Jackson believes suits Odom best.
Jackson declined to specify his plans, but he did obliquely say: “People will have to sacrifice.”
There’s no way that Odom can guard the quick SFs in the league. He needs to show that he can consistently knock down the open jumper. He will get a LOT of open looks. Imagine if we still had Caron Butler at the SF spot. Odom knows he’s on the hot seat. If things don’t go well for the 1st half of the season, he’s easy trade bait.