To Lamar Odom, $14,000 is a trifling sum of money compared to his $8.9 million contract.
However, that small sum represented a much more significant principle over the weekend, when Dallas Mavericks players voted to exclude the inactive power forward from reaping any financial gains from the individual playoff share. This marks one of the plainest expressions of dissatisfaction amongst Mavericks players, who remain diplomatic about the entire situation.
"He couldn’t help us the way he wanted, the way we wanted, and we had to move on without him," said Dirk Nowitzki. "If the Lamar thing would have worked out and if he would have played like the year before when he was the best sixth man, I think we would have had a shot."
The championship team lost a pesky penetrator, a defensive anchor, a tough-as-nails defensive specialist, and a three-point sharpshooter in J.J. Barea, Tyson Chandler, Deshawn Stevenson, and Peja Stojakovic. But they also gained a well-rounded versatile point, a shooting guard who for once was not undersized, a lottery pick with a refined offensive game, and the sixth man of the year in Delonte West, Vince Carter, Brandan Wright, and Lamar Odom. Indeed, the Mavericks seemed to be a match with the championship roster in terms of talent. But unfortunately for Mark Cuban, the NBA simply didn’t work that way. Whether the 2011 Mavericks were truly far and away the best team in the NBA or whether the team simply hit lightning in a bottle and rode a hot streak, the 2012 Mavericks would nevertheless put up one of the most disappointing title defenses in sports history.
And a major part of the blame should be attributed to Lamar Odom.
Over 50 games, he amazed the NBA at his shocking ineptitude, which not only prevented Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle from defining optimal roles for players but also generated a rift in the locker room between the special treatment he received and other players such as ahomeless Delonte West. The power forward constantly showed up late to meetings, practices, and shootarounds, despite living across the street from the American Airlines Center in the W Hotel. At times during the season, Delonte West lived in the AAC.
Perhaps that shows the distinction between a player who is owed every single bit of his salary plus bonus, and a player who is owed $8.9 million too much.
