The New Lamar Odom Dismisses the Old One

The Clippers were naturally alarmed when Lamar Odom missed practice Sunday. But they were relieved to hear his explanation, that he overslept, even if it did reveal that he is still more prone to bad judgment off the court than on. . . .

The thought when Odom didn’t contact the Clippers for 24 hours had to at least run through some minds in the Clipper front office that he had gone AWOL, as he did before the draft last summer. . . .

“I’m not going to make any excuses,” he said. “Some people would get fired from their jobs for this. All I got was fined and disciplined. It will never happen again.” . . .

Asked if he believed he would ever live down his reputation for irresponsibility, he said, “Maybe when I’m 30.” . . .

He denied a published report that he’s already looking forward to becoming an ex-Clipper because of the team’s failure so far to sign Maurice Taylor. . . .

As for Donald Sterling’s “I’ll sign you at any cost” declaration, Odom said, “He was joking after a great game. I’m not taking it to the bank.” . . .

Smart man. Sterling wouldn’t have said it if he thought he could be held to it. . . .

Taylor on the Lakers: “They’re not a phenomenon. Shaquille O’Neal is a phenomenon. Without him, they’re a good team. With him, they’re a great one.”

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Bewildered by Buffalo Coach Wade Phillips’ decision to bench Doug Flutie for Saturday’s playoff game against Tennessee in favor of Rob Johnson? So were the Bills. . . .

“You could knock me over with a feather, and that’s saying a lot considering how big I am,” said 338-pound offensive tackle Robert Hicks. . . .

Phillips’ decision might have been inspired by the Bills’ failure to score at least 20 points in four of their five previous games before Johnson led them to a 31-6 victory Sunday over Indianapolis. . . .

When NFL scouts first started watching Virginia Tech’s Michael Vick this season, they didn’t rate him high as a potential pro quarterback because he throws flat-footed. Now they’re reconsidering. . . .

If you listen to John Wooden, Steve Lavin shouldn’t worry much because critics think he isn’t a good game coach. . . .

“I don’t think I was a fine game coach,” Wooden says in the February edition of Esquire. “I’m trying to be honest. I think I was a good practice coach.” . . .

Of course, critics don’t think Lavin is a good practice coach, either. . . .

Lavin will be the first to tell you that it’s not easy to learn how to be a head coach at UCLA. But the pay is good. He earns $578,000 a year. . . .

“The most I made coaching was $32,500,” Wooden tells Esquire. “Maybe I didn’t have a million-dollar contract like Shaquille O’Neal, but he’ll never know what it was like to get a good meal for 25 cents.”

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When the Kings got Donald Audette from Buffalo for a second-round draft choice, it seemed like a steal. The conventional wisdom was that the Sabres didn’t want to sign him to a new contract because of his history of knee injuries. . . .

It appears now that there was more to the story. Audette, an outstanding goal scorer, apparently doesn’t want to fit into Coach Andy Murray’s scheme that requires everyone to play hard on both ends of the ice. . . .

That’s not saying he has a bad attitude, just a different idea of how he should be used. In any case, it wouldn’t be surprising if the Kings are trying to deal him. . . .

That on-again, off-again fight between Felix Trinidad and David Reid appears on again, which means Trinidad vs. Oscar De La Hoya is off again. . . .

As a result, talk has been revived about a June 17 bout at Staples Center between De La Hoya and “Sugar” Shane Mosley. . . .

Fifty guns were exchanged for tickets to Johnny Tapia’s fight in Albuquerque on Saturday night against Jorge Julio as part of a gun-control program. . . .

Bob Baffert made an unhappy jockey out of Chris McCarron last spring by taking him off Kentucky Derby contender General Challenge. But Baffert promised he would make it up to him. . . .

Perhaps that’s what the trainer was doing this week when he named McCarron to replace David Flores on promising 3-year-old Forest Camp at Santa Anita in Saturday’s San Miguel Stakes. . . .

Watch for Wayne Lukas’ Surfside in Sunday’s Santa Ysabel for 3-year-old fillies. Her sire is Seattle Slew, and her dam is Flanders, who suffered a career-ending injury while winning the 1994 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies. . . .

On opening day of last year’s baseball season, Raul Mondesi hit a tying, three-run home run in the bottom of the ninth off Arizona’s Gregg Olson. How would you have felt then if you’d known that one year later Mondesi would be in Toronto and Olson would be pitching for the Dodgers?

Randy Harvey can be reached at his e-mail address: randy.harvey@latimes.com.