Stay up to day with the latest news, updates, and press conferences from your Los Angeles Lakers.
When Lamar Odom was asked how Andrew Bynum looked in L.A.’s Saturday practice, he needed just a word: “Awesome.”
Odom went on to explain what ‘Drew was able to do in the team’s 5-on-5 session and what having the young center back in L.A.’s lineup will mean for the Lakers, and we had the camera rolling:
The advertising slogan for Vaseline’s Cocoa Butter product just happens to apply quite well to Lakers forward Lamar Odom: “Ignite your natural glow.”
Anyone who’s been around Odom - at least anyone I’ve met - can attest to the fact that Odom has a natural glow to his personality. Now, it also didn’t take long to notice that Odom applies a substantial amount of cocoa butter to his skin. In fact, it’s the first thing he does before games as he’s changing into his uniform, and the first thing he does before putting on his clothes after a game (or practices, obviously).
The reason we bring this up just a few minutes before tipoff in Detroit? Odom had one of my personal favorite quotes when I asked him how much cocoa butter he went through: “The only person that’s going to take care of my skin is me,” he said with a broad grin on his face.
Good point, Lamar. Simple, yet right to the point.
Lamar Odom will not available Wednesday night in Houston when the Lakers tip-off against the Rockets (5:30pm, KCAL/9 HD).
NBA Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations Stu Jackson levied a one game suspension against Odom for “leaving the immediate vicinity of the bench during an altercation” at the end of the third quarter Monday night in Portland.
The incident occurred after Trevor Ariza committed a hard foul as Blazers guard Rudy Fernandez attempted a layup. Fernandez was knocked off balance and was unable to brace himself, hitting the deck hard. Tempers flared near the Lakers bench as Fernandez laid on the ground in pain and was later taken off the court on a stretcher for precautionary reasons. He spent the night in a Portland area hospital, but was expected to be released later today.
Odom will serve the suspension tomorrow night against the Rockets and is expected to re-join the team Thursday in San Antonio.
With 2.2 seconds remaining in the third quarter of L.A.’s 111-94 loss at Portland, Trevor Ariza committed a hard foul on Blazers wing Rudy Fernandez. Here’s how we described the play in our running diary as it happened.
0:02.2 … Ariza committed a hard foul on Fernandez going to the hoop, but seemed to get a decent amount of ball. However, Fernandez went down really hard, and Portland’s entire team* ran over to get in Ariza’s face. It didn’t appear that any punches were thrown, but there was a great deal of pushing going on, particularly from Brandon Roy and Travis Outlaw… etc.
*To clarify, I meant Portland’s four other starters.
The replay of the incident shows that Ariza did indeed first make contact with the ball, but followed through to connect solidly with Fernandez, who stayed on the ground for a good 10 minutes (while Fernandez had movement in all of his extremities, he did complain about chest pain, as he did fall almost directly on his elbow and side). The result of the play was a flagrant two foul on Ariza, which demanded an automatic rejection, but does not mention a mandatory suspension on NBA.com’s rule page.
“Trevor went for the ball,” said Lakers head coach Phil Jackson. “That’s what you do when you’re a player. It’s just unfortunate.”
After the game, surrounded by reporters, Ariza first stated that his only concern is Fernandez’s health, explaining that there was definitely no intent to injure, and that his thoughts were with Portland’s rookie from Spain. He went on to say this:
L.A.’s other potential concern following the incident is the question of whether or not Lamar Odom left the bench enough to warrant a suspension by the NBA. Odom certainly didn’t think so.
“I stayed on the bench,” he said. “I stood up, but I stood right there … (The league) will see the replay … I (didn’t) go anywhere. No intent.”
Odom added that L.A. might want to start treating every team as if they’re the Boston Celtics, but all in all, we’ll surely we’ll hear more about it on Tuesday.
At practice on Tuesday a contingent of Dodgers’ prospects and officials converged on the Lakers practice facility for a chance to see how Phil Jackson puts his team through the paces. They also got to talk with Lakers legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and take pictures with Kobe Bryant.
Dodgers top prospect Clayton Kershaw was on hand and took some time to interact with arguably the biggest baseball fan on the roster, fellow lefty Lamar Odom.
Clayton throws gas, but can he hit the three-pointer when he needs to? Lamar has no problem boarding, but how would he fair on the mound? Would he be in the rotation or come out of the pen? Check the video above to see what kind of odds they gave each other.
Odom Ready to Play
When asked how his knee responded to Tuesday evening’s win in Houston, Lamar Odom likened himself to Humpty Dumpy … You know, the whole fall-down-and-get-back-up-again thing.
Odom’s said he’s feeling “all right,” and will indeed face off against the Spurs (as expected), which is a good thing because Odom was terrific in the Western Conference Finals last season. He averaged nearly 13 points, 10 boards, three assists and over a block in L.A.’s 4-1 series win.
He’s particularly important in the matchup because the Spurs will occasionally go small with Duncan in the middle and Bruce Bowen or Kurt Thomas at the four, when Odom’s defensive versatility becomes a big factor.
Phil Jackson Pregame
A few bullet points from Phil’s pregame chat:
Audio from Lamar Odom following the Lakers 105-100 victory over the Houston Rockets on Tuesday night.
A great deal of talent that surely would have played a key role in Tuesday’s Western Conference matchup between L.A. and Houston won’t even get onto the court … And it’s not just the Lakers that are hurting.
Houston will certainly be without Tracy McGrady, and most likely Ron Artest, while the Lakers will go forward without Sasha Vujacic (who remained in Los Angeles on Tuesday and is also doubtful for Wednesday’s game in San Antonio), Jordan Farmar, Luke Walton and, possibly, Lamar Odom.
Odom did participate in 3-on-3 drills on Monday and shootaround on Tuesday, and said that he’s feeling better since originally hyper-extending his knee. So while he’s the most likely to play, Odom will be a game-time decision. Surely LO’s ball-handling abilities could be used with the Lakers so paper-thin in the backcourt.
And, since Sun Yue could see more playing time than perhaps he’s ready for (Kobe and Fish, get ready for 40 minutes…), it’ll be particularly important for the Lakers to force-feed Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum. Not only is Bynum’s scoring up and Gasol due to come back strong from a poor shooting performance (remember last time Gasol struggled at home before exploding at Golden State for 33?), but Yao Ming is the Rockets’ only player big enough to stand alongside L.A.’s front line. That’s not a good thing for Houston, since Yao’s defense is nothing to write home about.
Check back before the game, when we’ll hopefully have some more news on Odom in particular.
We learned some good and bad news at Lakers practice on Monday:
The bad: Sasha Vujacic is suffering from back spasms after tweaking his back late in Sunday’s win over Miami. He will not make the trip to Houston with the team, but it’s the team’s hope that Vujacic will be able to make a separate flight either Tuesday or Wednesday prior to the team’s games against Houston and San Antonio, respectively.
The good: Lamar Odom played a game of 3-on-3 at full speed following Monday’s team workout. Odom, who looked to be moving quite well, hit several jumpers and even exploded for a left-handed dunk. In talking to reporters afterwards (video below), Odom said that he’s going to see how the knee feels on Tuesday at Houston, and will try to play if the pain level is tolerable. Since he can’t make his bone bruise any worse by playing, it’s mostly about pain management, and Odom’s wide variety of skills allows him to compensate better from movement or pain restrictions than many players. He remains listed at day-to-day, but recognizes that a team missing both Jordan Farmar and potentially Vujacic in the backcourt needs his ball-handling skills.
We’ll have more on both Sasha and Lamar from Houston tomorrow.
Video below the jump.
FROM LAKERS.com
