Lamar Odom is Done with Dallas

It seems as if only yesterday Lamar Odom was traded to the Mavericks in exchange for some chump change and a first round draft pick.  It wasn’t yesterday, but it wasn’t too long ago—it was made official on December 11, 2011.

Now, as of April 9, 2012, Odom and the Mavericks are mutually deciding to part ways.  This is not particularly surprising, given that the team had already placed Odom on the inactive list for this season.  You can’t blame the Mavericks, as they are on a mission to make the playoffs, and thus far only have a 50-game stint. 

General Manager Donnie Nelson said that consistency is the most important quality.  “Unfortunately with him in his state right now, he’s just not capable of doing that.  I say that with his best interest in mind.  He’s going through a very, very tough personal time.”  Things were looking very bad for Odom in his recent game against the Memphis Grizzlies.  For this 94-89 loss, Odom only played four minutes before being kicked off the court.  Even Mavericks star Dirk Nowitzki who was supporting Odom for most of the season, gave reporters a stern “I’m done talking about that,” statement.  To make matters worse, he was booed by the home crowd after averaging only 6.6 points and 20.5 minutes—a career low for a two time NBA Champion and NBA “Sixth Man of the Year”.

A lot of people are speculating as to what personal dilemma could be affecting Lamar.  Some ideas include a family tragedy, to general sickness, to even Odom’s resentment that he didn’t interest more teams during his free stint.  Of course, most people are going with the safe theory that he simply didn’t want to play in Dallas.  For now, at least that nightmare is over for Lamar Odom, as he and Dallas are history.

The question is, where does he go from here?  Where will he resurface next and will he get back his momentum for the next season?  Or is his career toast after a series of bad moves?  What do you think, Mavericks fans?

Categorized in: NBA