Odom’s Got Next ... Finally

The thing about Lamar Odom is that everything he says, everything he does, everything that happens to him seems so wildly out of proportion. His talent on the basketball court and his troubles off it appear so much greater than the next guy’s.

Odom stands 6 feet 10, difficult to miss even among other tall men, and perhaps that’s the first clue that something is out of whack.

Maybe it’s not his fault.

Maybe it is.

All that truly matters is that he’s coming back tonight to play the game he loves, the game he hasn’t played for 11 agonizing months because of serious wrist and ankle injuries.

“I want to see a red carpet,” Clipper teammate Quentin Richardson said. “Tell them Q. Richardson wants to see a red carpet rolled out for his boy Lamar Odom.”

Odom, seated in a folding metal chair after a recent practice at Los Angeles Southwest College, listened to Richardson’s over-the-top plea and smiled faintly.

In fact, Odom hasn’t thought much beyond leaving his seat on the Clipper bench to face the Golden State Warriors tonight at Staples Center. He simply can’t wait to peel away his warmups, get on the floor, feel the ball in his hands and hear the squeak of his sneakers on the court.

“Coming off my suspension last year, I thought I would just play,” Odom said, referring to the eight-game suspension he served for violating the NBA’s drug policy for the second time in eight months. “My first two years in the league, I used to say to myself that I was lucky I had never been hurt. That’s all changed.”

Odom sprained his right wrist after a fall during the Clippers’ victory Dec. 16, 2001, over the Detroit Pistons. He continued to play, but went on the injured list Jan. 24, hoping that rest would allow his wrist to heal. He was set to return to the court when, on Feb. 14, he stepped on a stray basketball while trying to dunk and sprained his right ankle.

Then, during an off-season workout, with his wrist healed and his ankle improved, Odom re-injured his ankle. He had to wear a hard cast for several weeks. Only now, after months of rehabilitative exercises and several weeks of difficult practices with teammates, has he been pronounced fit to play by the team’s medical staff.

“Easily,” Odom said when asked if this had been the most difficult period in his basketball life. “Having to sit out has been tough, especially since we’re expected to push for a playoff spot. It hurts. This season, it hurts.”

Several days earlier he had said, “I’m just waiting my turn to get out there. It seems like these last couple of weeks is taking forever. I wanted to push it up. But I made a date and I’ll stick by it. It’s a medical decision to wait until my body is ready to play. It’s not just for this year, but the years to come.”

Outwardly, at least, Odom has never stopped being the same person, a super-sized man with a personality to match. There were times, however, away from reporters and teammates, that the pain and frustration poured out of him.

“I’ve known him since he was 15,” said Jerry DeGregorio, Clipper director of player development, a former coach at the University of Rhode Island and godfather to Odom’s children, Destiny and Lamar Jr. “This probably has been the most difficult period of his life. At Rhode Island, he was still able to play that year he had to sit out. He wasn’t injured. When he can’t play, it’s very devastating to him. I’ve encouraged him to persevere. I’ve told him, ‘He who endures conquers.’

“Clearly, there have been moments when he’s been very frustrated. There were moments that I was concerned about his spirits. He’s been through a lot in his life, which I think made the process a littler easier. He’s only 23, but he became an adult early in his life. He became an adult when he was still a teenager. I think that helped him handle the situation.”

Odom’s past has been well chronicled. He attended several New York-area high schools before landing at highly regarded Christ the King. He never played for his original college, Nevada Las Vegas, which still is on NCAA probation for improprieties in recruiting him. After transferring, he sat out a season at Rhode Island when his college entrance scores were questioned. He then opted for the NBA draft, after averaging 17.6 points, 9.4 rebounds and 3.8 assists in 1998-99.

The Clippers selected him fourth overall, making him the centerpiece of one of the league’s rising and most exciting teams. Two drug suspensions and an almost yearlong layoff have set him and the team back significantly.

The potential for greatness remains, although no one is expecting Odom to carry the Clippers for at least the next few months. It’s going to take time, something Coach Alvin Gentry has reminded anyone who has asked about Odom.

“I don’t want anybody to think he’s the cavalry and he’s riding in on a white horse to save us,” Gentry said. “The kid will have gone through [almost] a whole year where he hasn’t played and people are going to have to be patient with him. We’re not going to play him 35-40 minutes when he gets back. I don’t expect him, after a year of not playing basketball, to have all his timing. He’ll come off the bench at the start.”

At that precise moment, Odom walked past Gentry’s Staples Center office on his way to the court to begin a pregame workout. Odom peered in, screwed up his face in mock surprise and mouthed, “Are you talking about me coming off the bench?”

Gentry broke out in a hearty laugh.

“He’s really going to help us,” Gentry said, “but I don’t want him to feel all this pressure. Obviously, we went to him almost every time down the floor our first year here [in 2000-01]. The guys we have now are getting better. We don’t have to depend on him to carry our team as in the past.”

The Clippers don’t expect Odom to average 17.2 points, 7.8 rebounds and 5.2 assists, as he did in 2000-01, but they hope his versatile play will lead them where they want to go: the playoffs, for the first time since 1996-97.

A good return could mean a great deal to the team, but also to Odom, who will be a restricted free agent next summer. Once again, expectations have been put on hold while Odom gets his game back.

“If Lamar goes out and plays and does his stuff, if he goes out and plays well, the other stuff will take care of itself,” said agent Jeff Schwartz when asked about Odom’s prospects for a fat new contract. “I think we have to wait and see what happens on the court.”

Limited to averages of 13.1 points, 6.1 rebounds and 5.9 assists in 29 games last season because of the injuries and the drug suspension, Odom must resist the temptation to do too much too soon. The Clippers can’t wait to get him on the floor, but they also know he can’t solve all their troubles in one game or one week.

“We miss his versatility, his tenacious defense, the way he hits the lanes [on fastbreaks],” said forward Elton Brand, a childhood friend from New York. “He’s going to help everybody’s game. I haven’t played with him in a long time. But we’re ready to get him back. We’re going to help him. We’re going to work him through it.”