BEFORE EVERY game the Lakers lock arms and form a circle around Odom. He is an unusual centerpiece: not their captain, not their best player, not their second best player, and when center Andrew Bynum returns from his knee injury, maybe not even their third best player. (At week's end Odom was averaging a career-low 10.6 points and 8.0 rebounds, though his adjusted plus-minus was fourth in the league.) But when the lights dim and the decibels rise and Odom starts bouncing up and down in the middle of the circle—"We're the best team in the NBA!" he shouts—the Lakers bounce with him.
Lakers G.M. Mitch Kupchak says Odom is the most popular player in L.A.'s locker room, but he also might be the most popular player in the locker room next door. The Los Angeles D-Fenders are the Lakers' developmental-league affiliate; they practice in the same gym and play on the same court as the NBA players but reap few of the other benefits. "Most guys at that level don't have time for us," says guard Brandon Heath. "But L.O. is always telling us to come over to his house, offering to take us out to dinner. We could damn near go over there in our drawers, and he'd probably take us to buy clothes."
http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1153359/index.htm#
Lakers G.M. Mitch Kupchak says Odom is the most popular player in L.A.'s locker room, but he also might be the most popular player in the locker room next door. The Los Angeles D-Fenders are the Lakers' developmental-league affiliate; they practice in the same gym and play on the same court as the NBA players but reap few of the other benefits. "Most guys at that level don't have time for us," says guard Brandon Heath. "But L.O. is always telling us to come over to his house, offering to take us out to dinner. We could damn near go over there in our drawers, and he'd probably take us to buy clothes."
http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1153359/index.htm#
