Lamar Odom

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Lamar Odom
Lamar Odom in a Lakers/Bucks game, December 6, 2005
Position	Small forward/Power forward
Nickname	The Goods, The Odominator
League	NBA
Height	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)
Weight	230 lb (105 kg)
Team	Los Angeles Lakers
Nationality	United States
Born	November 6, 1979 (age 27) South Jamaica, Queens, New York
College	Rhode Island
Draft	4^th overall, 1999 Los Angeles Clippers
Pro career	1999–present

Lamar Joseph Odom (born November 6, 1979, in South Jamaica, Queens, New York) is an American basketball player who currently plays small forward (also plays both forward spots and is a "point-forward") for the National Basketball Association's Los Angeles Lakers.

In 1997, Odom was the #1 ranked High School All-American in the United States, and had earned a good reputation among basketball scouts for his excellent ball-handling and passing ability despite his size (6 ft 10 in (208 cm)).

1 Basketball career
2 International
3 Trivia
4 Personal life
5 Notes
6 External links

[edit] Basketball career

[edit] High school

Odom attended Christ The King RHS in Middle Village, New York until he left after his junior year.^{[citation needed]} As a senior, Odom played for Redemption Christian Academy in Troy, New York. However, after the basketball season ended at Redemption Christian, Odom transferred once again to St. Thomas Aquinas Prep in New Britain, Connecticut. Odom was named the Parade Magazine Player of the Year in 1997. He was named to the USA Today All-USA 1st Team as a senior.

[edit] College

In 1997, Odom attended UNLV and was entrolled in summer classes. Following an academic scandal, an NCAA inquiry found Odom received payments amounting to $5,600 from booster David Chapman.^[1] Coach Bill Bayno was fired and UNLV was placed on probation for four years. Odom transferred to Rhode Island, but had to sit out the 1997-98 season.

Odom played one season at the University of Rhode Island in the Atlantic 10 Conference, where he scored 17.6 points per game and led the Rams to the conference championship in 1999. His three pointer against Temple at the buzzer gave the Rams their first A-10 Tournament title.

[edit] Los Angeles Clippers

Odom declared his eligibility for the 1999 NBA Draft after his freshman year at the University of Rhode Island in 1999. He was selected by the Los Angeles Clippers with the fourth overall pick. In his first season with the Clippers, Odom averaged 16.6 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 4.2 assists per game and was named to the 2000 NBA All-Rookie First Team.

Odom was involved in controversy in November of 2001 when he was suspended for violating the NBA's anti-drug policy for the second time in eight months.

[edit] Miami Heat

Odom spent four seasons with the Clippers before signing a six-year, US $65 million contract with the Miami Heat. Odom averaged 17.1 points, 4.1 assists and 9.7 rebounds during the 2003-04 season, helping the Heat to a playoff berth.

[edit] Los Angeles Lakers

In the 2004 offseason, he was sent to the Los Angeles Lakers as part of a trade that brought center Shaquille O'Neal to Miami. In his first year with the Los Angeles Lakers, Odom and Kobe Bryant, Bryant being a top 5 NBA talent in 2004, never established the chemistry analysts might have expected the two dynamic players might to build. The Lakers finished out of the playoffs for only the 4th time in franchise history.

[edit] Point forward for the Lakers

Following the disappointment of missing the playoffs, the Los Angeles Lakers hired former coach Phil Jackson in the 2005 offseason, in the hope that he could mold Odom into a Scottie Pippen-type player to run his triangle offense as a point forward, by which he meant a forward who could handle the ball and bring the ball forward, as Pippen was able to. In the first half of the 2005-06 NBA season, Odom displayed inconsistency while playing with the Lakers. However, as Los Angeles progressed towards the NBA playoffs, Odom played very well in preparing the Lakers for the playoffs. Along the way, he posted consecutive triple-doubles for the first time as a Laker against the Golden State Warriors and Portland Trail Blazers.

[edit] International

Odom played in the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece for the United States National Basketball Team, averaging 5.8 ppg en route to a bronze medal. He has earned 14 caps in total for the USA squad.

Men's Basketball
Olympic medal record
Bronze	2004 Athens	United States

[edit] Trivia

Odom has said that he would like to try broadcasting as a post-NBA career job.
Odom started the record label Rich Soil Entertainment in July 2005 alongside his "cousin", rapper Ali Vegas, who happens to be the label's first artist.
Raised by his grandmother when his mother died when he was 12 and wears number 7 because it was his grandmother's favorite number.
Enjoys traveling in the off-season and lists France as his favorite destination.^[2]
Odom made a cameo appearance in the movie Van Wilder along with Quentin Richardson, Darius Miles and Michael Olowokandi as Coolidge College Chickadees (members of the college's basketball team)
Odom appeared in an episode of the HBO series 'Entourage'. In the episode, Odom asked Vincent Chase when they were going to do a movie together, and Johnny "Drama" Chase asked Odom what he did to get his nice calves.
In 2006, Odom launched “Son of Man”, a new clothing line featuring a collection of tee shirts, polos, and jeans with images of Jesus Christ and other Christian figures.
Odom appeared in the Jadakiss rap video, "Knock Yourself Out."

[edit] Personal life

On June 28, 2006 Odom's 6½-month-old infant son Jayden died from suffocation while sleeping in his crib in New York. ^[3]

ESPN interviews have revealed that Odom was inclined to retire prematurely because of his lack of confidence. Lamar stated, "It's a blessing just to be in the league, cause there was a time where I thought that I would quit playing".^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

Persondata
NAME	Odom, Lamar Joseph
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Professional basketball player
DATE OF BIRTH	November 6, 1979
PLACE OF BIRTH	Jamaica, New York
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH

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