Lakers.com BasketBlog

So natural and unique is his game and his contribution, Lamar Odom has at least to a certain degree existed under the radar throughout his NBA career.

Yet with just eight more assists, the lanky lefty will become the seventh fastest player in league history to reach 6,000 career rebounds and 3,000 assists, a true mark of his versatility.

In 714 career games, Odom has amassed 10,584 points, 2,992 dimes and 6,338 rebounds, and is set to join an extremely impressive club of 3,000 and 6,000:

1) Larry Bird (574 games)
2) Chris Webber (667)
3) Kevin Garnett (681)
4) Oscar Robertson (688)
5) Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (691)
6) Wilt Chamberlain (691)

If Odom doesn’t drop eight assists on Wednesday evening against the Bobcats, he’ll likely do so on Friday against Denver, which would tie him for 7th place alongside Lakers legend Elgin Baylor with 716 games.

Not too bad, huh?

Prior to Wednesday’s game against Dallas, we sat down with Lamar Odom to discuss guarding one of the NBA’s best scorers of today and the last decade, Dirk Nowitzki.

I first asked Odom where his focus lies in playing Nowitzki, who has such a unique skill set:

You have to play the percentages, but it’s tough because in this game, you can’t have someone scoring in the paint. The contradiction of it all is that you have to make him take jump shots, and that just happens to be where he’s most comfortable. You just try to contest them and try to make him finish at the rim, which goes against all the rules of defense. He’s such a great scorer - he’s really good in the middle of the court. If you’ve watched NBA basketball in the last three of four years, you’ve had players post up in the middle of the floor, where it’s really hard to double-team. Dirk has a tremendous spin move and step-back (move) that at seven feet you can’t really guard … just contest it.

I was also curious how Odom thinks about dealing with Dirk in transition, because (as Odom explains) as a big man, Odom will often be responsible to sprint back on defense to get to the paint, which against Nowitzki can sometimes be fatal:

Dirk is a good defensive rebounder, and you have to be aware of where he’s at. Because he’ll grab the board, kick it (out) and then jog up the court. Sometimes as a power forward one of your responsibilities is to guard the basket, so he gets the rebound, passes it, you bust your (butt) to try to get back to the basket and protect the basket and there he is trailing for what just happens to be his strength, the three-point shot.

That Lamar Odom is a great guy to have in the locker room isn’t exactly breaking news for anyone that’s been around the jovial swing man.

On the contrary, Odom has long been as one of the league’s most well-liked personalities by players, coaches and media members alike.

But after his pregame hilarity in L.A.’s locker room leading into Sunday’s game in Detroit - when Odom spent several minutes serenading his teammates with old school Bone Thugs -N- Harmony joints - it felt appropriate to mention his locker room aptitude once again.

Let’s ask Luke Walton.

“No question is he the best locker room guy I’ve ever been around,” said Walton as Odom rolled off “First of the Month” in the background. “That’s easy. It’s just how Lamar is.”

What does “best locker room guy” mean, exactly?

Well, if the locker room is really just the team, and the word “best” doubles as “most likeable,” the explanation becomes more simple. Odom, in essence, keeps the Lakers loose when they get uptight, finds ways to be boost their (or his) collective energy when they appear tired, serves as a mediator of disputes and pumps guys up if they’re feeling individually down.

Basically, he does whatever he needs to do to help the team off the court from a mental standpoint, always intent upon bringing everyone together. And since he’s such a likeable person, there’s no acting necessary.

Case in point: the Lakers barely got out of the East Coast snowstorm on Saturday evening, arriving after 3 a.m. on Sunday morning in Detroit, and the team was collectively weary prior to that night’s game against the Pistons. Odom’s natural inclination was to pull out some Bone Thugs while skipping around the locker room, pausing to slap guys on the butt, encourage participation and what have you.

Such episodes from Odom are certainly not rare.

Another Lamar anecdote occurred at the close of Monday afternoon’s practice back in Los Angeles, while Odom was taking part in an always-heated game of four-on-four between players not named Kobe, Pau, Derek or Ron.

As game point approached, Shannon Brown took exception to Jordan Farmar’s trying to draw a charge, and began to let the accused know what he thought about it.

Odom shouted (to be more accurate, he yelled-out-in-a-non-accusatory-and-gentle-yet-somehow-still-firm way) out the following: “Just play man, come on!”

Instead of arguing or complaining further, Brown said, “My bad man, my bad” to Odom, and kept on playing. You see, nobody’s arguing with Odom; they all like him too much.

Of course, such conversations between Brown, Farmar, or fill-in-the-blank other teammates happen approximately 768 times per practice. That’s just how it goes when some of the world’s most competitive people are trying to beat one another.

But having perhaps the league’s best locker room guy to keep everything cool?

That’s certainly never a bad thing.