THE 2015 NBA PRE SEASON THREAD: BEST WISHES TO LAMAR ODOM

[dennistrane]

Crazy off season.

LMA to Spurs, Blazers losing their starting 5 but Lillard, DJ drama, 76ers robbing Kings, Fisher swimming in Barnes ex, Ron Artest comeback, Mavericks falling off, Lakers and Knicks fans splitting FA among themselves but got nothing major, Dubs trolling on Twitter. J Rich retiring. Malone and Dawkins passing. Shaq and Pippen ig war, Embiid out another year. Clippers might make it past 2nd round, Lins haircuts,Lawson trade, Lamar Odom.

Probably missing a couple of things

 

[Vincent Van Goat]

Crazy off season.

LMA to Spurs, Blazers losing their starting 5 but Lillard, DJ drama, 76ers robbing Kings, Fisher swimming in Barnes ex, Ron Artest comeback, Mavericks falling off, Lakers and Knicks fans splitting FA among themselves but got nothing major, Dubs trolling on Twitter. J Rich retiring. Malone and Dawkins passing. Shaq and Pippen ig war, Embiid out another year. Clippers might make it past 2nd round, Lins haircuts,Lawson trade, Lamar Odom.

Probably missing a couple of things

Not a bad summary

 

[earldagoat]

Will Rose be back opening night?

 

[the collector]

Will Rose be back opening night?

I heard today it's doubtful he plays game 1.

 

[BIG LEEMELONE]

AG

Bad timing but I remember saying gordon reminded me of odom when he got drafted and everyone laughed at me |I

 

[lawdog1]

AG

Think this guy needs to be in the most athletic PF convo.

 

[executive76]

That can all be true, but it doesn't mean that being with a Kardashian wasn't a bad thing for him. Whether she loved and wanted to protect him or not, she still constantly in the spotlight, living an extravagant life style and often surrounded by people who are drinking and doing drugs. Exposing Odom to all of that isn't really a good way to protect him.

You think Kardashians are around more drugs than other celebs and athletes? Odom was a grown man who could make his own choices. Nobody else was overdosing or having problems. The Kardashians weren't the only people around drugs in Odom's life, I would bet the gentleman's NT wager of $150 on that

This had more to do with Odom's demons than anything. Blaming or saying the Kardashians were bad for him seems like a cop out

Scott just went to rehab and Rob was/is eating himself to death. It's been a running joke for years but like with all good jokes theres some truth to it. If the guys aren't mentally strong things will go left for their life/career.


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[Vincent Van Goat]

Scott just went to rehab and Robb was/is eating himself to death. It's been a running joke for years but like with all good jokes theres some truth to it. If the guys aren't mentally strong things will go left for their life/career.

And you're saying they had large negative influence on Lamar?

When I said nobody, I meant the other stars who dated Kardashians 

 

[BIG LEEMELONE]

Think this guy needs to be in the most athletic PF convo.

Good point, I had a feeling I was overlooking one of the new guys

 

[Vincent Van Goat]

Good point, I had a feeling I was overlooking one of the new guys

Faried? Or nah

 

[the collector]

The one thing hooking up with a Kardashian did was put LO and his personal life on blast like never before. He had drug issues before them. Once he got with her whole new sets of eyes were placed on him. More attention then anything he's experienced playing basketball. His private issues became public knowledge. Maybe he couldn't handle that spotlight.

 

[Vincent Van Goat]

I'm tellin ya, it was the death of his cousin shortly followed by his abrupt trade to Houston (then Dallas) that set him off

 

[BIG LEEMELONE]

Faried? Or nah

Nah. Run and jump but that's it

 

[sea manup]

 

if this kid was drafted by the lakers he would already be considered a top 5 all time sg by nters   Lakers fans

there I fixed it

no need to sugar coat it 

you like things sugar coated tho

 

[pretty tony]

Jesus Christ. This might as well be tmz

 

[rck3sactown]

 

 

if this kid was drafted by the lakers he would already be considered a top 5 all time sg by nters   Lakers fans

there I fixed it

no need to sugar coat it 

you like things sugar coated tho

actually, I'm not a huge fan of sugar tbh; sugar/sweets is one of the few things I don't actively binge on

if you were to say it was macaroni and cheese coated, then I would agree.

 

[sea manup]

 

 

 

if this kid was drafted by the lakers he would already be considered a top 5 all time sg by nters   Lakers fans

there I fixed it

no need to sugar coat it 

you like things sugar coated tho

actually, I'm not a huge fan of sugar tbh; sugar/sweets is one of the few things I don't actively binge on

if you were to say it was macaroni and cheese coated, then I would agree.

team no sugar 

not a fan of overly sweet things. a year and a half ago I gave up drinking any kind of drink with processed sugar and I have not looked back

would you eat something that is pho coated? 

 

[mgrand15]

I'm tellin ya, it was the death of his cousin shortly followed by his abrupt trade to Houston (then Dallas) that set him off

This. I think the trade thing was overblown. I'm pretty sure his driver killed a kid while Lamar was in the car during that time period too.

 

[earldagoat]

 

[Vincent Van Goat]

This. I think the trade thing was overblown. I'm pretty sure his driver killed a kid while Lamar was in the car during that time period too.

idk man, he was lovin life with Kobe and the Lakers. Then the trade sort of came out of nowhere, devastated the hell out of him, stopped caring about basketball immediately. Basically **** all over the Mavs and promptly started getting obese. It's a clear indicator of when his career (and personal life) went way south

 

[executive76]

Good point, I had a feeling I was overlooking one of the new guys

Faried? Or nah

 

[pmatic]

LO was contemplating taking a sabbatical before the trade(s) because of what happened that summer.

 

[Vincent Van Goat]

LO was contemplating taking a sabbatical before the trade(s) because of what happened that summer.

So imagine not even being able to go back to your teammates for solace

I see why dude went south

 

[earldagoat]

 Between the bright lights and darkness, Lamar Odom is burdened with his own 'True Hollywood Story'

...

As it turned out, Odom's college recruitment became one more manipulated cluster amid a lifetime of them. No one prepared Odom for much of anything – least of all a tortured, pained life of tragedy, celebrity and addiction.

Nearly 20 years later, the end threatened to come for Odom outside Vegas, in a "Cathouse" brothel chain made famous on – you guessed it – a television reality show. The spokesman for Odom's darkest hours turned out to be a legalized pimp named Dennis Hof. HBO abandoned his business' reality show years ago, but the owner of the Love Ranch has somehow found a way to use Odom's tragedy to rebrand his chain of family entertainment.

In recent days too, the Kardashians refused to stop exploiting Odom on that reality show, turning what appeared to be a lost soul in crisis reaching out to his ex-wife only to have his phone calls manufactured into Khloe-Kim argument fodder for one more dreadful episode.

Sex, drugs, a disconsolate Khloe, and Kobe leaving the Lakers locker room at the MGM Grand Arena to get to the hospital. Poor Lamar Odom, unwittingly delivering them a trailer.

So, Khloe ended up at his bedside in Vegas, with her mother, Kris Jenner, dramatically pacing outside Sunrise Hospital in Vegas. The Rev. Jesse Jackson emerged onto the scene to make public proclamations. All the way to the end, Odom played the part of a prop, a recurring character in the Kardashian cesspool.

Truth be told, the Kardashians transformed Odom's frailties and flaws into a societal fascination. Around the Lakers, they would always tell you that the scrutiny of the show played a part in his undoing, that it made a largely shy and private guy far more exposed and vulnerable than he ever imagined. Privately, Odom would tell friends that he never imagined the impact that an entanglement with the Kardashians' glare would have on his existence.

"You can get tickets for the Oscars, some good perks," he once told a friend, "but I had no idea what the rest of it would be like."
Odom had his demons, losing his mother to cancer, an infant son to SIDs. His father was an unstable and murky presence in his life. In a perfect world, Odom had Hall of Fame and max-contract talent. Only, Odom didn't live in a perfect world. He lived a tortured, pained existence.

Perhaps as a player, Odom found the best possible version available to himself. He didn't care much about conditioning, nor diet, nor did he immerse himself in honing his craft. He was far more comfortable to be voted the Sixth Man of the Year than chase MVPs and max contracts.

Odom tried to make a comeback in the fall of 2013 and made progress working with trainer Rob McClanaghan in Rhode Island. Odom had left Hollywood, returned to the serenity of his small-town college experience and started to make progress on a return to the NBA.

Soon, Khloe told Lamar of her plans to divorce him, he spiraled again and he'd never play another NBA game.

Mostly, it is people who've never interacted with Odom who shower him with scorn for his missteps and flaws. To his friends, he has been relentlessly kind and generous and loving. When Odom was winning championships with the Lakers, he was the most beloved, popular player in the locker room. When he made Team USA for the 2010 world championships in Turkey, it didn't matter that Kevin Durant, Derrick Rose and Russell Westbrook were on the roster. Odom was the player with whom everyone gravitated.

Odom played 11 seasons with the Clippers and Lakers, and became an L.A. staple. He didn't only appear on "Entourage" with those calves that became an obsession of Johnny Drama's, but turned out to be the show's real-life embodiment. Lamar Odom was the kid out of Queens who made it big in Hollywood, only to end up on his deathbed in some lost, tragic place between the bright lights and the darkness.

 

[pmatic]

Woj going at the Kardashians.