I don't see any point in singling out Lamar Odom for falling short of some presumed higher potential. Guys are who they are, or were. Hell, maybe a "different effort version" of Odom would have blown his knee out as a rookie; these what-if games won't help us understand anything better.
Joined: 10 Apr 2001 Posts: 65135 Location: Orange County, CA
Posted: Sat Oct 21, 2017 5:42 pm Post subject:
70sdude wrote:
I don't see any point in singling out Lamar Odom for falling short of some presumed higher potential. Guys are who they are, or were. Hell, maybe a "different effort version" of Odom would have blown his knee out as a rookie; these what-if games won't help us understand anything better.
I used to do it all the time. All that stuff that Ben Simmons is doing at PG, Odom used to do for the Clippers his rookie year too, as a point forward and backup PG.
Difference? Odom shot WAY better from mid and had much better upside to 3-point land.
Had me so frustrated. _________________ Resident Car Nut.
Joined: 16 Jun 2005 Posts: 40345 Location: Dirty South
Posted: Sat Oct 21, 2017 9:03 pm Post subject:
The first time I saw Lamar Odom was when he was a Freshman @ Rhode Island....and I was convinced he would revolutionize the game. He was a more athletic Magic Johnson....Lebron before Lebron....or at least it appeared he had the raw talent to be those things. I am not sure "hard work" was the reason he did not live up to those expectations, but the extraordinary expectations themselves were the problem. I think in the end Lamar just wanted to ball and have fun....and win. He never asked to be the next anything.
Most of LO's problems were from drugs, you can say his lack of effort was because of his drug problem. He had a drug problem because he tried to forget all the sadness in his life and used it as an escape. I think LO would've definitely had more success in basketball and life if he had not been caught up in the world of drugs.
Joined: 02 Jun 2009 Posts: 2415 Location: Far from home
Posted: Sun Oct 22, 2017 8:22 am Post subject:
To me, it's not as if injury derailed him. I'm not clever enough to estimate the effects of rewiring a guy's brain to be someone else. I've felt this way since reading John Wooden, who wrote that essentially he didn't know how to judge a man's capability in any context other than that which the player actually experienced. That made sense to me (excerpt from They Call Me Coach):
"Change one thing and who knows what may happen. I try to resist the temptation to linger over thoughts of what-ifs. A man simply does what he does, among the people he lived with and played with. Who really can know if a another man would become more accomplished - or less - in another setting, from some other unknown chain of events ? I'm at sea when the topic turns to these imaginings."
Here's a second view that provides some comfort to me. I don't recall the detail, but I'd formed an impression that personal tragedy outside of basketball measured significantly into Lamar's life in more ways than for most guys in the league. Perhaps those experiences capped in some sense what he was personally capable of achieving or becoming in the sport. I think I could feel comfortable feeling that Lamar did the best he was capable, perhaps damaged emotionally or spiritually in some way in his life. _________________ “These GOAT discussions are fun distractions while sitting around waiting for the pizza to be served.”
I don’t know but he also ate a shocking amount of candy lol. He quickly got fat after he left the Lakers and was basically just a scrub with Dallas and the Clippers so I think he would have had a longer career if it wasn’t for some of his issues. But who knows how good he would have been.
Joined: 02 Apr 2006 Posts: 3079 Location: Portugal
Posted: Mon Oct 23, 2017 12:55 am Post subject:
He would have been clean of drugs and never married a Kardashian. _________________ -----------------------------------------------------
http://www.youtube.com/user/NBAMadeira
What does Simmons have to do with Odom? I loved LO and he was my second-favorite player for years, but despite having more length, I think Simmons is more talented than LO. Simmons has better vision, passing and ball handling skills than Odom had. And looks to be stronger than LO at the same age.
I also don't think LO was as lazy as this post suggests. LO played half his career with Kobe Bryant, who doesn't put up with laziness even from players more talented than Odom (see, Shaq)
To me, it's not as if injury derailed him. I'm not clever enough to estimate the effects of rewiring a guy's brain to be someone else. I've felt this way since reading John Wooden, who wrote that essentially he didn't know how to judge a man's capability in any context other than that which the player actually experienced. That made sense to me (excerpt from They Call Me Coach):
"Change one thing and who knows what may happen. I try to resist the temptation to linger over thoughts of what-ifs. A man simply does what he does, among the people he lived with and played with. Who really can know if a another man would become more accomplished - or less - in another setting, from some other unknown chain of events ? I'm at sea when the topic turns to these imaginings."
Here's a second view that provides some comfort to me. I don't recall the detail, but I'd formed an impression that personal tragedy outside of basketball measured significantly into Lamar's life in more ways than for most guys in the league. Perhaps those experiences capped in some sense what he was personally capable of achieving or becoming in the sport. I think I could feel comfortable feeling that Lamar did the best he was capable, perhaps damaged emotionally or spiritually in some way in his life.
Yeah, I've never understood these "If could take player A's brain and put it in player B's body, how would he be?" discussions.
I never understood the obsession the Odom.
IMO if he worked harder maybe he cleans up his space cadet moments a bit and has a better assist-TO ratio and a little higher jumpshot % but I dont think he really elevates himself to a higher tier of player. _________________ (bleep) Kawhi
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