Knee injury keeps Odom on sidelines

Lamar Odom did not practice Saturday and will not play today against the Miami Heat. A bone bruise in his right knee continues to cause him pain. He cannot jump or run or stop or start as he usually does, so he cannot play. "It doesn't have the strength I want it to have," Odom said. "I can play with pain. My life is painful. I'm living it, you know what I'm saying? So, a knee? It's not ready. It's not stable enough." He plans to accompany the Lakers on their two-game trip to play the Houston Rockets on Tuesday and the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday. But...read full article

Lakers' Odom Is Day-to-Day With Injury

Tests showed Lakers F Lamar Odom's right knee injury is not serious, and he is day-to-day.
Odom, injured late in the second quarter of Tuesday night's 116-105 loss to New Orleans, was examined by team physician Steve Lombardo yesterday. An MRI exam revealed a bone bruise in the knee. Odom didn't travel to last night's game at Golden State but may return...read full article

Lakers Warriors thoughts

A few thoughts about what could lie ahead this evening tonight's action...

The "Great Discombobulated Battle" of 2009? Lamar Odom's bone bruise (Fingers crossed his knee is more "day-to-day" than "month-to-month") coming on the heels of Luke Walton's sesamoiditis forces Phil Jackson to tinker even more with a suddenly shallow rotation. In the meantime, Nellie hasn't exactly been afforded the luxury of a consistent lineup himself. Just as Corey Maggette returns after a fifteen game absence to rack 23 points in...read full article

Evening Scoop: Odom's Knee Situation

OK, Lakers fans, breathe a sigh of relief. Lamar Odom's knee injury is relatively minor, diagnosed simply as a bruised bone in his right knee. Odom will be out tonight as the Lakers play the Warriors, and is listed as day-to-day thereafter. What may be more concerning for Lakerland is what we saw the Hornets to do them once Odom was out of the way. Byron Scott's adjustment, moving David West further out on the floor, was brilliant. Pau Gasol is a decent low post defender, but his ability to move laterally is limited. He had to move out on the floor with...read full article

Tests snow that Odom's right knee injury isn't a serious one

Tests showed Lamar Odom's right knee injury is not serious, and the Los Angeles Lakers forward is day to day. Odom, injured late in the second quarter of Tuesday night's 116-105 loss to New Orleans, was examined by team physician Dr. Steve Lombardo on Wednesday. An MRI revealed a bone bruise in the knee. Odom didn't travel for Wednesday night's game at Golden State, but could return as early as Friday when the Lakers host Indiana. The 29-year-old forward scored 12 points in 13 minutes before being injured Tuesday. He is averaging...read full article

Lakers F Odom to have MRI on knee Wednesday

Los Angeles Lakers forward Lamar Odom will have an MRI on his hyper-extended right knee Wednesday morning. Odom landed awkwardly after grabbing a rebound with 3:03 left in the second quarter of the Lakers' 116-105 loss to the New Orleans Hornets on Tuesday. A starter last season when Los Angeles went to the NBA Finals, Odom has come off the bench this season, averaging 8.7 points, 6.2 rebounds and 2.3 assists...read full article

Unplugged with Lamar Odom

Lamar Odom on the mic talking about how he is 100% sure he can win a game in NFL if he is the quarterback if he picks his teammates. Watch the video and find out who he picks.

Want to trade Lamar?...Think Again.

Lamar Odom is part of the bench mob now and I don't know about you guys but I think Lamar coming off the bench is the best thing for the Lakers if they want to win the championship. The fans and media are always giving him a hard time because he's inconsistent...wanting to trade him. I think he should stay because he does all the other small stuff that builds up to something big. As a Laker fan...we shouldn't take him for granted.

Find out why he would help the Lakers

Lamar Odom shows a positive side to Lakers

Despite a reserve role, he says he won't be 'detrimental' as Lakers win exhibition, 94-89.

LAS VEGAS -- Lamar Odom wasn't a starter for the first time since ninth grade, but he seemed at peace with it, if not apologetic for his recent anti-establishment attitude. Odom had four points and nine rebounds as a reserve in the Lakers' 94-89 exhibition victory Sunday against Sacramento. He also offered up an intriguing interview beforehand. He had been on opposite poles of Coach Phil Jackson for weeks, publicly questioning him at the team's annual media day, but an olive branch was extended Sunday night.

"That was like my alter-ago talking," Odom said of last month's outburst. "Seriously. That's Odom. Not Lamar. I'm being dead serious. I'm a good locker-room dude. I don't want to be detrimental to the team, especially, like, how this is a championship-caliber team."

It's been an unusual block of time for a player considered one of the friendliest on the team, if not the league. A year ago, he shelled out about $40,000 during training camp to feed teammates every day in Honolulu -- morning, noon and night. Now, he feels he's getting shelled on all sides . . . in a contract year, no less...read full article

Lakers' Lamar Odom practices mainly with second unit

Coach Phil Jackson says the veteran forward'would really helps us' as a sixth man.

It was only one practice, with a slew of them still remaining before the regular season, but Lamar Odom was not on the starting unit for most of Saturday's session.

Odom played primarily with the second string before being shifted to the first unit toward the end of practice. "We're having Lamar come in and play off the bench so that he can start thinking about how he can help the team and what he can do when he does that," Coach Phil Jackson said. "But I don't know if I'll experiment with it in a game yet."

The answer could be gleaned as soon as tonight when the Lakers play Sacramento in Las Vegas.

Odom has not been sharp in the team's first two exhibitions, averaging 1.5 points, two assists, four rebounds and 2.5 turnovers.

Jackson recently said Odom appeared to be playing a game...read full article

Lakers' Lamar Odom doesn't get points for performance

Phil Jackson says that the veteran 'looks like he's either curling or doing some other kind of sport. He's not playing basketball.

The Lamar Odom experiment trudges along, slowly and shakily.  The Lakers' most versatile player had more fouls (five) than points or assists as a primary ball-handler on offense and small forward on defense in Tuesday's exhibition game against Utah.  Odom was in the starting lineup, a point of contention for him because Coach Phil Jackson suggested he might come off the bench, but his stats were insignificant other than the fouls.  In 20 minutes, Odom had three points, five rebounds and three assists.  Assistant coach Kurt Rambis said Odom's game was "fair to middling, maybe poor," and that Odom "didn't seem focused out there."

Jackson took it a step further.  "I just got through telling him that this is really basketball now," Jackson said Wednesday. "He looks like he's either curling or doing some other kind of sport. He's not playing basketball.

"The first shot he took was a three-pointer in the middle of the third quarter? That was pretty interesting."

Jackson was non-committal when asked...read full article

Change in store for Kobe and Lamar

Phil Jackson says he plans to reduce the 30-year-old Bryant's minutes this season, and suggests Odom could end up coming off the bench if he struggles at small forward spot.

Phil Jackson looked loose and relaxed, having let the sting of last season's championship failure roll off his back and disappear into the waters of the Flathead River during an off-season spent at his Montana home.

The Lakers' coach, who turned 63 last week, met with reporters for almost half an hour Friday, touching on Andrew Bynum's health, possible reductions in Kobe Bryant's playing time and a front court that might or might not include Lamar Odom as a starter.

Bryant also spoke briefly with a handful of reporters in the players' parking lot at the team training facility. He smiled a lot and seemed upbeat while detailing why he skipped surgery that would have required a 12-week recovery period for a torn ligament in his right pinkie.

"That was too long," he said, splaying out his fingers and saying that enough scar tissue had built up in the pinkie to make it less dicey to play with this season. "It was riskier last season than it is now."

Between Bryant's...read full article