Would you ever take back an ex-lover? Lamar Odom appears like he wants to. Odom’s entire season went up in flames once he discovered his beloved Lakers were shopping him, and when the Lakers actually did agree to ship him out – only to have the trade voided – Odom was extremely emotional. To avoid any potential problems, L.A. traded him to Dallas almost immediately for virtually nothing. The Lakers didn’t win a championship without him, but it’s safe to say Odom got the short end of the stick, going to Dallas and flaming out memorably. With the Mavs virtually guaranteed to get rid of him, no one’s future is more cloudy than the Goods. Read More »

No matter where Lamar Odom ends up next season, it’s almost guaranteed to be somewhere outside of Dallas. The Mavs don’t want him back, and whether they find a trade partner or simply have to waive the disgruntled forward, he won’t be playing in Big D.

Odom needs a beach to survive. It’s pretty much a fact at this point. You buy Odom, you better have the sun and the water too, or else you’ll probably be stuck at some point in the season, wondering aloud why exactly you signed this dude (ask Dallas). Beaches makes you think of L.A. and Miami. But New York is on the water too, and apparently, the Big Apple is Odom’s No. 1 landing spot. Read More »

Oh, we want to put an asterisk by this so, so bad. But damn, Chris Paul is just too, too good. We can forget that CP and Blake Griffin will probably wake up today with whiplash from all of their flopping and flailing. Paul dropped eight overtime points, cooked half the Grizzlies roster, and finished with 27 points, nine rebounds and seven assists as the Clippers went up 3-1 on Memphis, 101-97. After not having a single second-chance point all game, L.A. had two buckets in a row off misses in overtime, and even with Mike Conley (25 points, seven rebounds, eight dimes) playing the game of his life, the Grizzlies couldn’t finish. Again. … Read More »

I can see Lamar Odom right now: face down, his head in the pillows, with rain drops sliding down his window, slow jams playing from his iPod dock, and his old Dallas gear wrinkled up in the corner. When you’re as talented as Odom and you end up basically being banished from basketball, something is wrong. Over the lockout this summer, he struggled with the murder of his 24-year-old cousin, and just days later was also a passenger in a vehicle that collided with a motorcycle, killing a teen pedestrian. Death and tragedy have followed Odom wherever he’s gone, like a dark curse that’ll never stop blocking the sun. Read More »

Lamar Odom was the NBA’s best sixth man a year ago for the Lakers playing alongside friend Ron Artest. With Odom deactivated by Dallas on Monday for the rest of the season, his former teammate now known as Metta World Peace went off on a legendary tangent after Monday’s game in New Orleans about how Odom could fill his time. Read More »

In the end, it seems like Lamar Odom really did need a beach to survive. Dallas and the former Sixth Man of the Year never fit together, and it showed in the box score. I’m sure the Mavs were expecting more than a single digit PER from Odom, along with nightly averages of 6.6 points and 4.2 rebounds. Those are by far the worst numbers of his career, and while the lockout can surely receive some of the blame, the results point to one thing: the marriage wasn’t going to last. Read More »

Beast of the Night: Danny Granger posted 25 points, seven rebounds, one assist, two blocks and three three-pointers last night against the Wizards. He shot 53 percent (8-15) from the field and 100 percent (6-6) from the free-throw line, and had no turnovers. Granger has displayed a habit of turning in a clunker or two each week, but he’s maintained top 50 value throughout the season. Read More »

Well, Kobe Bryant passed Michael Jordan on one all-time scoring list last night. No, it’s not the one that really counts, but this one still means something, especially to Laker fans. During the course of his 30-point, 5-rebound and 5-assist night in L.A.’s 104-101 win at Golden State, Bryant passed over MJ for second-most points all time with one franchise with his 29,278th point in a Laker uniform. He hit perhaps the game’s two biggest shots from almost identical spots on the court late in the game (take that, clutch haters!) with both of them coming against near double teams, and along with Pau Gasol (19 points, 17 rebounds) pushed the Lakers to a big win. Read More »

While the Sixers were once again teaching everyone in the arena the basics of How To Run God Awful Offense At The End Of A Game 101, Jeremy Lin (18 points) was balling. The dude started the game shooting 1-for-9 and yet still had that bounce in his step. He got to the rim. He found his bigs. And most importantly, he made his free throws to close out the Sixers, 82-79. Amar’e Stoudemire chipped in 21 and nine, and his legs appear all the way back. He was dunking, spinning in the lane and had one fourth quarter block on Elton Brand at the rim that had Twitter all fired up. Read More »

It’s not about Dirk Nowitzki’s conditioning. It’s not about Tyson Chandler leaving.

This season, the Mavericks are about — and will go as far as — Lamar Odom. It might seem like a weird thing to say for a guy who’s started four games, plays 21 minutes per game and just missed 10 days.

Odom scored 15 points last night in a loss to Phoenix on 6-of-10 shooting. He was aggressive in looking for his shot, getting baseline drives and step-back threes. Playing like he was a Laker, basically. Read More »