LA Times If Lamar Odom has aspirations of becoming a team leader in his second season with the Lakers, he took a step in the right direction toward the end of Saturday's practice. In a session where the team performed conditioning drills after missed free throws, Coach Phil Jackson told the team to leave and return tomorrow after many players failed to finish their runs under the required time. Instead, Odom rallied the team to return and practice free throws, with the exception of Kobe Bryant, who walked off the court after kicking a water bottle. "I've always been vocal with my teammates," Odom said. "We couldn't hit our free throws and then we had to run. We didn't do what was asked of us." The Lakers have either practiced or played an exhibition game in 12 consecutive days, which includes their return flight from training camp in Hawaii. Ending practice after the free-throw drill wasn't a result of frustration, Jackson said. "They worked hard, they just couldn't hit free throws, so they had to run," he added. Jackson said he hadn't talked to Odom about becoming a team leader and insisted the transition had to occur naturally. "That's how it evolves," he said. "It's not something I can program. It needs to be a consensus of the group that he's a team leader." Source
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting shapecity:</div><div class="quote_post">LA Times..., with the exception of Kobe Bryant, who walked off the court after kicking a water bottle.</div> The media really hates this guy. I won't go as far as to say he does not deserve it. But he certainly does not deserve all the bad press he gets. At this point he could do everything perfect and the media would still find ways to make him look bad. I am not a Kobe fan, but for Christ's sake leave the man alone. I think the best thing that could possibly happen for Kobe is to be traded out of LA and hence out of the limelight. As far as Odom goes...it's about freakin time he steps up to the plate and shoulders some responsability.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting odde23:</div><div class="quote_post">The media really hates this guy. I won't go as far as to say he does not deserve it. But he certainly does not deserve all the bad press he gets. At this point he could do everything perfect and the media would still find ways to make him look bad. I am not a Kobe fan, but for Christ's sake leave the man alone. I think the best thing that could possibly happen for Kobe is to be traded out of LA and hence out of the limelight. As far as Odom goes...it's about freakin time he steps up to the plate and shoulders some responsability.</div> Sometimes I think Kobe Bryant should adopt the nickname 'Scarface' and embrace the 'bad guy' persona. "Say goodnight to the bad guy"
This might be bad for the Kobe-Odom chemistry. Let's just hope Kobe doesn't take this "Odom becoming a team leader" to personally and pull another Shaq-Kobe thing again.
I can see Odom is maturing well under Phil Jackson. Is this Odom's breakout year? I've always had high expectations of Lamar Odom, he really has skill that a lot of NBA players do not possess.
odom baby stepping forward... i think with odom's positioning in the triangle offense, this could be one of the best moves for him, as a teammate of kobe. otherwise, he would spend however many more seasons as another "option" rather than as a go to guy for them. yeah, i know he had some good games last season, but all in all, he could have fared a LOT better had KB not taken as much of the burden of winning on his own shoulders. i cannot wait to see lamar taking the ball up the court this year.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Heat4Life:</div><div class="quote_post">That water bottle had it coming.</div> This is great for Odom and the Lakers. Glad to see he's being more proactive and leading the players. This will give the Lakers the perfect balance of good cop and bad cop. Kobe Bryant can motivate by challenging his teammates, and Odom can motivate by picking up their spirits. The Zen Master must be pleased.
