Lamar Odom embraced idea of being on the Grizzlies as others refused
The Vancouver Grizzlies became the black sheep of the NBA during the late 1990s because they were not an American team. Some players did not want to join them because they were not interested in playing in Canada.
The Grizzlies had the second pick overall in the 1999 NBA draft, which they used to select Steve Francis out of Maryland. Unfortunately, Francis disliked the idea of playing for the team , which got worse after an airport incident.
On the other hand, some players were eager to join, including Lamar Odom from the University of Rhode Island.
"I was so nervous for my Vancouver workout," Odom said last year on the Knuckleheads show with Quentin Richardson and Darius Miles. "I'm working out for Vancouver, boom, shooting the ball, one, two, three - I'm like, 'Hold up,' - four, five, threw up. Right there. Kept going, though... Y'all gonna pick me! Hell yeah, I would have went. They had the second pick."
Odom just wanted to play high-level basketball
When Odom entered the NBA Draft, his only goal was making it into the league. No matter what team drafted him, he had no issues with it because he knew it would allow him to showcase his basketball talents at the highest level while earning a good sum.
The Grizzlies would have made a strong selection if they had picked Odom because he would have been a perfect fit alongside the budding core of Shareef Abdur-Rahim and Mike Bibby. Unfortunately, they chose Francis, a selection that set them back because they had to trade him away, and the return they got was underwhelming.
Selecting players like Odom, Richard Hamilton, or Shawn Marion would have been the right move. All these players had much better careers than Francis and would have been a strong fit with the core.
Odom, in particular, would have also been a strong selection because of his attitude. Unlike Francis, he did not have any complaints about playing for Vancouver.
Odom's successful career
Selected eventually by the Los Angeles Clippers in the 1999 draft, Odom started to show why he was a top prospect by playing more of a point-forward role. It was rare back then, with Grant Hill setting the precedent, but Lamar showed he could play the role effectively.
The Clippers would have loved him to stay, but when the Miami Heat offered him a contract, LAC refused to match the restricted free agent because they had already signed Elton Brand, who played a similar position to Lamar.
After one season with the Heat, Odom was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers, where he spent his prime, winning two championships in 2009 and 2010. While he never had the opportunity to wear a Grizzlies uniform, Lamar Odom had a successful NBA career.
Related: Ty Lue offensive wizardry lands him in top 5 list of NBA coachesThis story was originally published September 22, 2024, 12:00 PM.
