Lamar Odom was once a talent in the NBA. A Talent that was sought after by a number of NBA teams throughout the 2000’s and beyond. Odom was a wing player who could play defense and he just did a whole lot of everything right. Odom reached a crossroads in 2009 when his contract with the Los Angeles Lakers was up. He either stayed with the team and continued their success or he moved on to get more money with another franchise.
That’s when the Miami Heat came calling and luckily for both the Heat and Lakers, he didn’t go anywhere.
Following from Dan Le Batard of the Miami Herald.
Miami’s Big 3 would have never gotten together if Pat Riley had originally gotten what he wanted. Riley was busy offering millions in 2009 to Lamar Odom, fresh off a championship in Los Angeles. Odom was having something close to a nervous breakdown trying to decide between the Lakers and Heat, but eventually settled on L.A. before marrying a Kardashian and spiraling into addiction. If Riley had closed Odom — and Odom couldn’t be reached for days at deciding time — Miami never would have had the money to pay James, Wade and Bosh.
Odom really did have some issues deciding between the Heat and Lakers in 2009. He enraged the Lakers and their ownership at the time with his contract demands and he looked to be on his way out. Odom stayed with LA and the Heat stayed without a star to join Dwyane Wade until the next summer.
Imagine if Odom did go to the Heat. What do LeBron James and Chris Bosh do with their free agency in 2010? Does Lamar Odom avoid his historic collapse and problems with the Dallas Mavericks? Does Dwyane Wade still fight with Miami going forward? A lot could’ve been changed just with one free agent signing.
