It's no secret that Lamar Odom hasn't handled his breakup with the Lakers particularly well. After an awkward stopover in Dallas, Odom is back in Los Angeles this season.. with the Clippers. Based on this gaffe during a recent interview, however, Odom doesn't seemed to have advanced beyond "denial" in the stages of grief. During a Media Day interview before the season got underway, the 33-year-old veteran got his Staples Center residents mixed up.
"Hi, I'm Lamar Odom of the Los Angeles Lakers," he said before someone presumably pointed out his mistake. "I said 'Lakers'?"
Perhaps it's an understandable mistake. Despite being drafted by the Clippers in 1999 and spending his first four seasons there, Odom experienced the bulk of his success while donning the purple and gold. In seven seasons with the Lakers, he won back-to-back NBA championships and was named the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year for the 2010-11 season -- his final year before being traded to the Mavericks.
Given reports that Odom "desperately" wanted to rejoin the Lakers after a disappointing 2011-12 season in Dallas in which his troubles on the court were largely chalked up to a lack of mental focus, Odom might want be more careful in sending the right message to Clippers fans that he's ready to play like his old self again.