Mavs, Odom part ways

Dreamin · Apr 10, 2012

Absolutely Useless.

ferrari77 · Apr 10, 2012

Initially there were idiotic and silly reports that Lamar and Dirk had an altercation in the locker room at HT of the Memphis game(Which made little sense since Dirk is not that type of player or person and Dirk was playing sh!tty in the 1st half as well). That report was from the "reputable" Media Takeout.

More solid info just out from actual reporters that cover the team- Tim McMahon and Marc Stein. Lamar and Cuban got into it at HT of the game.

http://m.espn.go.com/nba/story?storyId=7796599&city=dallas&wjb

At halftime of his final game with the Dallas Mavericks Saturday night, Lamar Odom had an angry exchange with Mavericks owner Mark Cuban in the visitors' locker room in Memphis, according to sources familiar with the discussion.

Sources told ESPNDallas.com that the heated words were "the culmination" of an exasperating weekend. That convinced team officials to initiate discussions on Easter that led to the parties agreeing split for the rest of the season.

According to sources, the crux of the heated halftime confrontation was Cuban asking Odom if he was "in or out." Sources said Odom, who had played only four minutes in the first half, reacted angrily to the question and did not take his seat on the bench until after the third quarter began.

This was not the first time that Cuban had confronted Odom during a game. During a March 6 win over the New York Knicks, Cuban shouted at Odom from the owner's seat near the Mavs bench after the forward's failure to hustle back on defense resulted in an uncontested layup for New York's Landry Jones. Cuban and Odom both downplayed that incident, with Cuban pointing out that he's a passionate fan who frequently yells at players.

ESPN.com reported Monday that the Mavericks and Odom have agreed for the 32-year-old to leave the team immediately without being released outright, thereby leaving open the possibility the Mavericks still could trade him in June after the playoffs.

Cuban declined to comment. He had been among Odom's staunchest supporters all season, spending two days meeting with Odom and agent Jeff Schwartz while the Mavs were on the road in the midst of a nine-game, 12-day stretch at the end of the veteran's 10-day midseason personal leave.

After the loss Saturday, coach Rick Carlisle declined to answer a question about Odom, the reigning Sixth Man of the Year who averaged career lows in points (6.6), rebounds (4.2), assists (1.7), shooting percentage (35.2) and minutes (20.5) this season after being traded from the Los Angeles Lakers to the defending NBA champions in a December salary-dump deal.

On Monday, Carlisle responded to questions about Odom simply by saying, "It's just time to turn the page."

Mavs president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson expressed sympathy for personal issues Odom has dealt with all season, but said it was in the best interest of all parties for the 13-year veteran forward to not be part of the team the rest of the season. Nelson compared counting on Odom while the Mavs fight for a playoff berth to "going to war with wet gunpowder."

"We're in our playoff time right here," Nelson said. "We need to win games. We got to be able to look down that bench and count on folks to be consistent. Unfortunately with him in his state right now, he's just not capable of doing that."

The Mavs still owe Odom the remainder of his $8.9 million salary this season. The Mavericks intend to simply list him as inactive for the rest of the season. Any team that has Odom on its roster as of June 29 must buy him out by that date for $2.4 million or otherwise accept responsibility for the full $8.2 million that Odom is scheduled to earn in 2012-13.

"The Mavericks and I have mutually agreed that it's in the best interest of both parties for me to step away from the team," Odom said Monday in a statement to ESPN.com.

"I'm sorry that things didn't work out better for both of us, but I wish the Mavs' organization, my teammates and Dallas fans nothing but continued success in the defense of their championship."
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Raven · Apr 10, 2012

Would it have been such a sacrifice to simply endure one season in Dallas and then request a trade next Summer? This guy has no clue how the real world works, and I hope the entire league freezes him out.

across110thstreet · Apr 11, 2012

RV6 said: ↑

Why can't everything be ok? Kobe wanting him back is already a good sign. KK would be thrilled to return to LA. I don't think Odom copes well with change and therefore the best thing would be to return to LA. They just gotta kiss his butt some to patch things up.
Click to expand...

basketball reasons. they already shipped him out. twice. are there folks who think it's a foregone conclusion he returns to the Lakers (besides Kobe?)

why would the Lakers go out of their way to kiss his butt? let him be a reality tv star, because he's not living in reality...

Dei · Apr 11, 2012

This is the right way to dispose of an underperforming player.

RoxBeliever · Apr 11, 2012

What's with these Lakers players Odom and Fisher? They think it's the end of the world if they're not on the Lakers team. Grow up!

IBTL · Apr 11, 2012

Looks like Dallas may not be the premiere destination everyone supposedly wants to go to. Odom wanted NOTHING to do with it obviously.

You think odom would have acted like this if he went to the heat?

DALLAS = 2nd tier

emjohn · Apr 11, 2012

IBTL said: ↑

Looks like Dallas may not be the premiere destination everyone supposedly wants to go to. Odom wanted NOTHING to do with it obviously.
You think odom would have acted like this if he went to the heat?
DALLAS = 2nd tier
Click to expand...

If only.

Odom would have acted like this had he gone to 25 of the league's 29 other teams. Probably worse in most of them.

sinobball · Apr 11, 2012

Is he still on the Khardashian TV show? The entire story is so bizarre.

Pull_Up_3 · Apr 11, 2012

IBTL said: ↑

Looks like Dallas may not be the premiere destination everyone supposedly wants to go to. Odom wanted NOTHING to do with it obviously.

You think odom would have acted like this if he went to the heat?

DALLAS = 2nd tier
Click to expand...

lol such a dumb post

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