Lamar Odom hasn’t quite forgiven the Los Angeles Lakers.
Odom, who will return to Staples Centre Monday for the first time since he was traded to the Dallas Mavericks, still questions why the Lakers were so willing to trade him in the off-season.
“For them just to (try to) trade me without communicating, it made me start to ask myself questions like, ‘Why would they do something like that?'” Odom told the Los Angeles Times. “It hurt my feelings. Why would they choose to go that route? My father lives in California and I take care of my dad. They know about my family situation, everything about me.”
The 32-year-old forward still holds a grudge after he was involved in the vetoed trade that would’ve sent Odom to the New Orleans Hornets in a multi-player deal in exchange for Chris Paul. Odom was eventually shipped to the Dallas Mavericks for a first-round pick in 2012.
“It was impossible for me not to take it personally,” Odom explained. “When I spoke to one of the representatives for the Lakers, the first thing he said was ‘Don’t take it personally.’ That means it’s personal if that’s the first thing someone says to you.”
Odom appears to be struggling in his new home as his minutes are at an all-time low but Dallas Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle attributes that to the team’s depth at the forward position.
“We’ve got one of the top 10 players in the history of the game playing (power forward) here (in Nowitzki), Carlisle explained. “So (Odom’s) minutes now are coming at (small forward).”
And with a lot of depth at forward, “there are just less minutes available,” Carlisle said.
Odom is averaging 6.8 points per game and shooting just 31.2 per cent in his first 13 games with the Mavericks.
