“It was short lived, too bad it couldn’t work out but things happen for a reason. My life has been so crazy the last couple years, as far as issues with my family, as far as going through personal tragedy. And I felt like God was saying, ‘You know what Lamar, I’m going to give you a little time. A little time to step back and soak everything in….”

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HoopsVibe’s Very Quick Call: Lamar Odom is not Socrates or Dr. Phil, but he was rather introspective when discussing his fall with the Dallas Mavericks.

In case you’ve been living in a cave: the Los Angeles Lakers included  Odom in the nixed Chris Paul deal, Odom got mad and demanded a trade, and the purple-and-gold obliged by sending him to the Dallas Mavericks for a paltry trade exception.

Odom was a peculiar fit for the defending world champs’. He was out of shape. He’s also a finesse player and Rick Carlisle’s bunch needed grit to replace Tyson Chandler. And his reality TV relationship with Khloe Kardashian didn’t help matters -even though Mavericks owner Mark Cuban runs the Shark Tank and was an epic failure on Dancing With The Stars.     

Then there were the cap implications. The Mavericks only acquired Odom to buy him out at year’s end and use the financial flexibility to chase free agent Deron Williams.

Add it up and Odom struggled miserably in the Lone Star State. Fans booed him. Teammates questioned him. And he had a run-in with Cuban before being told he was on paid vacation.

To be fair, there was much we didn’t know. Odom’s marriage, even if it’s a reality TV spectacle, was stumbling. And his cousin was murdered.

So the forward needed some personal time. Hey we’ve all been there.

Don’t count Odom out, though. He’ll have a few offers this summer and will surely take the Mini-Mid level exception to join one of his two former teams in Los Angeles.

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