Odom finds his way back home with new deal
By JANIS CARR, OC Register
The offer had been withdrawn, yanked off the table by Lakers owner Jerry Buss, and it left Lamar Odom in contract limbo.
Odom knew what he wanted, and that was not it.
He wanted to stay in Los Angeles and win another championship with the Lakers. Miami was an option, a nice fallback plan, but returning to the Heat was not his first choice. Odom said he knew he had to do something.
So he picked up a phone and called Buss, who was vacationing in Hawaii.
“I wasn’t hurt (by having the offer withdrawn), but more surprised,” Odom said Friday. “Because it was the first time since I was 8 years old that I wasn’t picked to play. That was my basketball ego. It was like, ‘What, you don’t want me to play basketball for you?’”
After a little verbal elbowing, Odom managed to get Buss to re-open contract talks, resulting in a multiyear deal the free agent forward officially signed Friday at the Lakers training facility.
Odom said he was happy to be staying in L.A.
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