Odom’s Take
Photo. Tim TadderMarc J. Spears’ Celtics Notebook in today’s Boston Globe has Lamar Odom’s take on his “hit” on Ray Allen the other night:
Lakers forward Trevor Ariza made fun of teammate Lamar Odom during practice yesterday by getting into a three-point football stance. But even though Odom’s hit on Celtics guard Ray Allen last Sunday night was better suited for the gridiron, he didn’t view the foul as excessive.
The 6-foot-10-inch, 221-pound Odom tackled the 6-5, 205-pound Allen into the first row at the Staples Center during the Celtics’ 110-91 win over the Lakers. The NBA responded by slapping Odom with a one-game suspension Tuesday that will be served tomorrow against Philadelphia. But after the Lakers’ practice yesterday in Los Angeles, he expressed little remorse about hitting Allen.
“I didn’t think it was that excessive,” Odom told reporters. “I wasn’t trying to hurt him. I was just trying to make a play on the ball . . . If I was to cheap shot him, he would have known I cheap shot him. But, I didn’t really try to cheap shot him. I was just making a play on the ball.”
Odom said Celtics forward James Posey “came under me” seconds before he hit Allen. Odom added that he wasn’t angry about the suspension, and he would take the punishment.
“I didn’t hurt the guy,” Odom said. “Of course, I wouldn’t want to lose by 20 at home. [There] was a play before that where I thought Posey came up under me. I didn’t try to overreact, but Ray Allen was there, he had the ball, and I wanted to foul him hard.
“Maybe I fouled him a little bit too hard. If I wanted to [hurt] somebody, I would know how to make a tackle. But that wasn’t my intention at all. I just wanted to foul him.”
To read the whole article, go HERE.
January 3rd, 2008 at 11:09 am
Andrew says:
Doesn’t Odom have to play the tough guy on this one? If he really feels bad about the foul, he can talk to Ray about it, but he doesn’t need to issue a huge apology through the media.
January 3rd, 2008 at 11:11 am
srb says:
there was no way that was a play on the ball – his hands never left his sides and he never even looked at the ball.
January 3rd, 2008 at 12:34 pm
j m geezy says:
who cares?
January 3rd, 2008 at 1:04 pm
kpb says:
Ray Allen was in the way of the ball though, so he was trying to get to the ball.
January 3rd, 2008 at 1:11 pm
Wags says:
Odom was mad because KG threw his layup the play before and yelled “get that sh*t outta here.” The mics on the lakers broadcast picked it up loud and clear. Funny stuff.
January 3rd, 2008 at 1:29 pm
josh says:
Too bad KG says that EVERY time he blocks a shot. It’s cool if you’re a rook and you got the juices flowing and you’re pumped on the blocked shot, but damn KG’s been in the league for over a decade…
January 3rd, 2008 at 2:31 pm
flyp says:
…and he STILL has the juices flowing. Man is living, breathing passion.
January 3rd, 2008 at 5:43 pm
snook says:
that hit was a lot harder than a certain hit last playoffs.. but rayray didnt go flailing his arms or nothing… lmao
January 3rd, 2008 at 8:45 pm
DOC says:
he was frustrated aint bout shit
January 4th, 2008 at 1:48 am
kowtz says:
Ho-hum…