- May 23, 2012
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- #26
The "Kardashian Curse is Real" Non All-stars
#6 Lamar Odom
Hey Kobe, have you heard the one about you having twelve more All-defensive team nominations than me?
Sometimes, supporting cast members are overvalued (see Williams, Mo). And then sometimes, just sometimes, they never really get their due. Meet Lavar Joseph Odom.
If you google 'Lamar Odom' now, you'll get a bunch of photos and links to his new girlfriend or TMZ stories that will bleed your brain dry in seconds. The focus on his Kardashian misadventures, coupled with his near-death experience a few years back, is almost enough to make you forget that Odom was a professional basketball player... and a damn good one at that.
Part of the reason Odom joins our list of the most criminally undervalued is that putting up insane scoring numbers was never his thing. He had the talent to do it, if he'd really wanted to - but instead, the Candy Man's game was one of quiet all-around excellence. And the odd scoring outburst too...
To some Odom might have fallen into the category of 'jack of all trades, master of none', but the truth of the matter is that he was excellent in almost every facet of the game. At 6'10 he was perfectly capable of mixing it up in the lane, but he also had the ball handling skills and passing vision of a guard. Meanwhile defensively he was capable of guarding anyone 1-5, which makes his complete lack of All-Defensive nominations almost as absurd as his perennial All-star snubs.
What's most forgotten about Odom is that he was almost the perfect supporting star (as was Pau Gasol in many ways) to Kobe Bryant during the Lakers 2.0 era, including back to back championships in 2009 & 10. A guy who didn't care about his shot attempts, or even his starting job (in fact the only thing he seemed to care about was playing in Los Angeles), L.O. was the consummate team-man... and the consummate snubbed All-star.
#6 Lamar Odom
Hey Kobe, have you heard the one about you having twelve more All-defensive team nominations than me?
Sometimes, supporting cast members are overvalued (see Williams, Mo). And then sometimes, just sometimes, they never really get their due. Meet Lavar Joseph Odom.
If you google 'Lamar Odom' now, you'll get a bunch of photos and links to his new girlfriend or TMZ stories that will bleed your brain dry in seconds. The focus on his Kardashian misadventures, coupled with his near-death experience a few years back, is almost enough to make you forget that Odom was a professional basketball player... and a damn good one at that.
Part of the reason Odom joins our list of the most criminally undervalued is that putting up insane scoring numbers was never his thing. He had the talent to do it, if he'd really wanted to - but instead, the Candy Man's game was one of quiet all-around excellence. And the odd scoring outburst too...
To some Odom might have fallen into the category of 'jack of all trades, master of none', but the truth of the matter is that he was excellent in almost every facet of the game. At 6'10 he was perfectly capable of mixing it up in the lane, but he also had the ball handling skills and passing vision of a guard. Meanwhile defensively he was capable of guarding anyone 1-5, which makes his complete lack of All-Defensive nominations almost as absurd as his perennial All-star snubs.
What's most forgotten about Odom is that he was almost the perfect supporting star (as was Pau Gasol in many ways) to Kobe Bryant during the Lakers 2.0 era, including back to back championships in 2009 & 10. A guy who didn't care about his shot attempts, or even his starting job (in fact the only thing he seemed to care about was playing in Los Angeles), L.O. was the consummate team-man... and the consummate snubbed All-star.