Saturday, May 30, 2009

Lamar Odom

Do you know who Lamar Odom is because he's one of the most disputed talents in the modern basketball era. He is the quintessential mismatch with his 6'10" frame, left-handedness and ball-handling ability. But to the disputed part...he's accused of not showing up a lot and radio pundits march him to the trading block as often as kids skip lunch to play kickball. Lamar is the kind of guy that frustrates us fans because he doesn't always do what we think a highly compensated basketball veteran should. Lamar is also a reflection of us.

I can't get out of my head the characteristics of an NBA season that rise to my conscious mind thanks to Lamar Odom over the last nine years. I have to preface by saying that I didn't care for the guy when he was a Los Angeles Clipper fresh out of Rhode Island. Nevertheless, when I think of L.O., I'm reminded that players play 82 regular season games over a nine-month period. It makes me think...what if I numbered and named every problem I had in the last nine months? How many times was I discouraged, tired, sick, battling some form of apprehension toward a major challenge? Now imagine adding to nine-months of "life" the grueling demands of a professional athletics career. Aren't we all ontologically equal - subject to all of the same vulnerabilities? We have to be but we fans have created a false reality that makes Lamar Odom and his nine months of "life" only opportunistically compelling. Janet Jackson said it best when she sang, "What have you done for me lately?" Jackson's words are painfully accurate as fans are no more interested in the life of a Lamar Odom than they are in the lives of the thousands of people who drive past them daily.

See, Lamar Odom lost a child to sudden infant death syndrome in 2006. I'm not a parent but how do you just go out there and hit 20 and 10 when most days, even years later, you can't help but wonder what your son would be learning, speaking and demonstrating if he were alive. What mannerisms would he have acquired by now? But it doesn't matter because we just want to win. The irony, and it's taken me years to learn this one, is that if the Lakers win the championship I don't even get a free t-shirt. So why am I so intense? I should write L.O. and tell him I'm praying for his family. Once a dad, always a dad. That would help with "nine months of life" as a NBA star.

No comments: