http://espn.go.com/dallas/nba/story...mavericks-pay-lamar-odom-charles-barkley-says Barkley: Lamar Odom's pay 'a joke' Updated: April 11, 2012, 7:01 PM ET By Tim MacMahon | ESPNDallas.com DALLAS -- The only explanation Charles Barkley can come up with for Lamar Odom's short stint in Dallas is the 13-year veteran never got over his divorce with the Lakers. But it disgusts Barkley the Mavericks are on the hook for the remainder of Odom's salary. "I always pull for the players, but the fact that they've got to pay him, I think is a joke," Barkley said during his Wednesday appearance on ESPN Dallas 103.3's Galloway & Co. "I mean, because he didn't earn his salary. He didn't earn it at all. "I like Lamar as a person, but I'm disappointed about everything that happened in Dallas. And it's a shame that the Mavs got to pay him, to be honest with you, because he doesn't deserve to get paid for what he put out there this year. He doesn't deserve it, plain and simple." The Mavs finally had enough of Odom's sulking, lack of effort and habitual tardiness and banished him from the team Sunday, less than 24 hours after a heated halftime confrontation where owner Mark Cuban questioned Odom's commitment. Odom presumably will return to Los Angeles. Odom, who averaged career lows in almost every category, will make almost $1 million the rest of the season and is due a $2.4 million buyout payment in June. "To sit at home and make that kind of money really pisses me off, to be honest with you, for the effort that he put out there," Barkley said. "He's going to make hundreds of thousands of dollars these next two paychecks. ... That's not fair to the Mavs. It's not fair to the game of basketball. "I'm just disappointed in Lamar."
which is why i love barkley and he's the reason why I became a Suns and Rockets fan. He may do or say stupid things sometimes but he usually calls it as it is. . Lamar is a joke and I feel bad for Cuban having to pay that BUM
the fact that the guy is acting like a child throughout this situation is why i hate players with talent but no heart. damn right he shouldnt get paid. ill take scola 99 times out of 100. he may not be as talented as odom but he is a better player and person. i always compare players like odom to players like scola. some people earn their money and some people just dont bother.
The NBA should be a little worried about this... That means that any player that gets pissed about his situation can do the same thing knowing that if they let me go they have to pay me.. Hmmm not good.. T_Man
Well too late. They could have killed the season and made the players give back fully gueranteed contracts but they wanted the money instead.
The situation isn't quite the apocalypse you imply. The NBA is quite a small fraternity, easy to be black-listed. Maybe players like Melo and Dwight can be asses and get paid a lot after, but that's small company. If Odom goes to another team and gets cut, he is out of the league. Consider: The Celtics couldn't get great value for Rondo, someone most posters on this board would give a lot for to acquire, there is a reason. Terrence Williams got waived but Flynn and Thabeet got traded. There is a reason. GMs get put on thin ice for trading a draft pick to get a player who causes the FO headaches (lol at Cuban and Morey), but they get FIRED for doing the same for a player who has bad history and then does it again. Artest beat up fans and got multiple contracts after, Sprewell choked his coach and got multiple contracts after.... but a player who quits on his team and never gets suspended is blacklisted a lot faster than a Spewell or Artest. GMs would rather have a player emotionally unstable enough to choke a coach or punch a fan, than one emotionally unstable enough to not want to play basketball for their team. Sprewell exited the league not after he choked his coach, but after he pissed off GMs by airing dirty laundry about salary compensations and refused a good contract. The over/under on the # of GMs you can piss off in this league and keep a good paying job is 1.5. Odom is at 1.
I'm sorry but did Lamar force Cuban and Donnie Nelson to trade for him and his salary? They KNEW what they were getting as well as the potential for further weakening in his mental psyche but yet they thought THEY were the team that could soothe Lamar's ego and have him contribute. They can blame his agent for sweet talking them into the trade but it takes two to tango.
Atleast they didn't let him go to the Lakers this season to "finally turn it around." He'll be back with LAL by next season
Whether you're paid minimum wage or millions, you have a professional obligation to give honest effort. Doesn't matter if you're traded, if you're unhappy, if a cousin dies, or any other excuse. He didn't need to bleed on the court every night, but mailing it in 50-odd games was insulting. I agree with the folks saying he should donate a big chunk of that money to charity (ideally, a Dallas-based one), but there's no way he'd do it.
So basically Lamar will be getting paid millions to do nothing? He has officially become a Kardashian!
