After securing two championships in his seven-season stint with the L.A. Lakers, 32-year-old Lamar Odom entered the 2011-12 season with high expectations to add value to the star-studded Dallas Mavericks and assist them in their title defense. Unfortunately, his time with the Mavs took a drastic turn.
Not only did he appear in 50 regular season games, stating in merely four, but his relationship with franchise owner Mark Cuban deteriorated to the point where the latter kicked him for performing well below expectations. Even though the 6'10" forward refrained from responding physically, he later delivered a stern message to the multi-billionaire on how he should never repeat such antics with another black man, as the consequences would be far from worse.
Lamar's stint with the Mavs came to an abrupt end
'Candy Man' joined the Mavs as the reigning Sixth Man of the Year, having averaged 14.4 points and 8.7 rebounds per game in the 2010-11 season for the Purple and Gold. With established stars like Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Kidd, and Vince Carter already on the Mavs roster for the 2011-12 season, L.O. was expected to alleviate some of the scoring pressure from the marquee players while providing a strong presence around the rim, primarily in a bench role.
Despite the high hopes, Odom fell significantly short, averaging 6.6 points along with a career-low tally of 4.2 rebounds per game, coupled with a career-low field goal shooting percentage (35.2%). His lackluster showings frustrated Cuban to such a point where, during a game against the Memphis Grizzlies, the Mavs owner confronted Lamar and kicked him in the shin in an attempt to motivate him to play harder.
"Just a bad choice of motivational tools," Odom said during his interview with DJ Vlad. "Only way that could have possibly worked is if he was like my father, or uncle … where I was f***king up that bad where he kicked me. It wasn't a karate kick, just a little nudge to my shin. But he did it with his foot. I was playing so bad for the Mavericks at that time I could possibly say, 'Mark Cuban I'm sorry. I could see you had to prove your point.' I was performing way under where I should have been. So I could excuse him for that."
While Lamar understood that he wasn't playing up to par, especially considering his $8.9 million salary for the season, he advised Cuban not to repeat such an action against any Black man in the future.
"Don't ever do that to a black man again, " Odom added. "Because he might f**k you up."
Related: “He has 47 kids in the Philippines, and I’m the oldest one” - When Dennis Rodman broke down during his Hall of Fame speech
It was VC who stopped Odom from retaliating
This incident was not the only time Lamar publicly addressed the matter. In previous discussions about his altercation with Cuban, L.O. disclosed that it was Carter who prevented him from reacting violently .
Given that Odom was only 32 at the time he joined the Mavs, not only could he have helped them beat the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round, considering how three of the four games his team lost were with an average points differential of 3.3 but he could have learned so much more from the billionaire owner.
Related: "Death always seems to be around me. I've been burying people for a long time" - Lamar Odom on heartbreaking and tragic life events
Local News
