Is this still weird to see, or have you gotten over not seeing Odom in a Lakers jersey?

“I love you L.O., but uhh … you’re off the Kobe System.”

“The Return”

gotemcoach:

“I get the honor of introducing the next teammate.  He’s one of the most versatile players in the entire NBA.  He can play every position, and he’s one of the most unselfish players.  Sacrifices his own personal success for the team success.  Without him, we wouldn’t have these rings.  My good friend, Lamar Odom.”

- Luke Walton, Oct. 2010, Lakers Championship ring ceremony

@gotem_coach

Still hurts.

Now that most teams are undergoing media day and the season is less than two weeks from starting, how are Laker fans supposed to feel about this? Confused? A little. Angry? Definitely. Disappointed? Without a doubt.

Last week was a unique one for sports. It was a week that say arguably the greatest baseball player of his generation, Albert Pujols, leave the only place he’s known (and my hometown) for more money and because he felt “disrespected” by management. During the same week, and same day if I can recall correctly, David Stern vetoed a blockbuster trade that left many players feeling confused, angry, disappointed, and one very disrespected.

That one is Lamar Odom. And that is why I went from being mad at Laker’s management, to angry at Lamar.

Let’s recount the big-time names that were involved in last week’s cataclysmic trade. Pau Gasol. Chris Paul. Lamar Odom. Luis Scola. Kevin Martin. All starters, or Sixth Men of the Year material. Men who certainly add value to their team, and feel as if any team should want them, and that the one that has them should need them. Out of all those names, only one took it so personal that he couldn’t show up to training camp the next day and practice.

Lamar Odom.

He was the one who told his agent to ask Mitch Kupchak to trade him. And within three hours Mitch did just that, to the reigning NBA Champions in a move that has baffled me and just about every Laker fan that I have talked to. It was done behind the premise of there being a bigger plan, but the small plan was to ship out a player who was likely to affect the chemistry in the locker room. He took it more personal than Pau Gasol, who understood that it was a calculated business move that would’ve set in motion a chain of events to land not only Chris Paul, but Dwight Howard. There was a bigger picture in mind to keep the Lakers’ championship hopes alive long after Odom would be an integral part of the team.

This is where the disconnect between Odom and Laker fans begins. That our immediate future is skewered, and that unlike everyone else, he took it more personally. And for him to continue to speak about how “surreal” it is, after the Lakers sent him to the reigning champions is overkill. In doing that, Mitch Kupchak showed Lamar more respect than he probably should have.

Not many of us are going to sympathize LO. You’re getting paid millions of dollars. In all reality, you should feel thankful whether you play for the Lakers, or the Bucks. Lakers fans loved you during the years that you underachieved (and let’s face it, last year aside, he was mostly inconsistent), and we appreciated the unique skill-set you brought to our team. I always thought you were a nice player, and a great personality, but after undergoing this process and seeing you as the only player involved in the trade that just can’t get over it, my opinion has changed.

Something tells me you’ve been around the Kardashians too long.

Mitch Kupchak Q&A w/Reporters

Follow link to read. Was interested in his response to Odom being traded.

Q: On Odom being sent to Dallas:

Kupchak: “Lamar was sent to Dallas because he requested to be traded. That’s not to say that we wouldn’t have done something down the road. But the timing was such, and it’s all tied into what took place last week, the unfortunate circumstances of Thursday and Friday. Lamar is probably more sensitive and emotional than most people, in particular our players, and that’s a plus more than it’s a minus. But in this case, he couldn’t get over the fact that something like that took place. We were hoping that things would change in a day or two, but his representative called me on Saturday and said it’s not going to change, and requested that (Odom) be traded. We worked together to find a spot that would give us the most flexibility going forward. There are a lot of teams in the NBA that would take a player like Lamar and you could probably do it in a day, but you’d have to take back players, and you might not like the players you were getting back, and there might be long (financial) commitments going out. That’s not something we were interested in doing. All that does is handicap us going forward. To find a slot where you can just create complete flexibility and get back a pick (is unique).

Click link to read more.

Lakers out of Chris Paul talks

The Los Angeles Lakers have pulled out of the three-team deal with New Orleans and Houston that would have landed Chris Paul in L.A., according to sources close to the talks.

The reason for the Lakers’ withdrawal was not immediately known.

The Hornets, Rockets and Lakers had been working for the past 48 hours to complete a reconfigured version of the trade that the teams struck Thursday that had been vetoed by NBA commissioner David Stern.

The Hornets, according to the source, will now have to look for alternative deals to find a new home for Paul, who can become a free agent at season’s end.

One source close to the process said that the Lakers will instead trade Lamar Odom to the Dallas Mavericks.