With Andrew Bynum's knee getting more painful and swollen by the second, a panicky Lakers nation turns its eyes to Lamar Odom. Is Mr. Kardashian up for the challenge?
“I’m not going to put it on my shoulders to win or lose the game,” Odom said. “We have to play together as a team.”
This is Lamar Odom in full. The personality that happily allows him to defer to others and at times makes him the ultimate third or fourth option is the same one that prevents him from assuming the pressure of stepping into an expanded set of responsibilities.
He’s always had the talent to be one of the elite players in the game. He just never had the desire to take the job.
“We have to make up for his size and shot-blocking ability and the way he protects the rim,” Odom said of Bynum. “We have to realize as a team what he gives us and what Lamar gives us. As a team we have to rebound better. We gave [rebounds] up as a team. We have to box out as a team.”
Wait, there’s more.
“It’s always team defense … we have to move the ball as a team … we do everything as a team … as a team we have to figure out what Andrew gave us and what we’re going to miss.”
Odom isn’t wrong. The game is won as a team. But the fact he wasn’t vocalizing an aggressive, ready-for-the-challenge mentality is worrisome.
Maybe not.