Laker Nation

Thanks to site contributer, Shane Bien for the following article.

Before many of you run to your bank account to see if your expected 13.5 million dollar salary arrived yet, let me explain. Lamar Odom is an underachiever, and in many ways fans dislike him because he reminds us of ourselves. The majority of people in life are underachievers. Just like Lamar, there was a point in our lives where we were beaming with potential in some aspect or another but we never took the bull by the horns and made the most of our abilities. By underachieving in our life, we look to the Kobe Bryant’s of the world who epitomize excellence and show us what happens when potential and hard work is put together to create something magical. Yet, here we are, lazy underachievers who only work hard enough to get by… just like Lamar Odom does on the court. Think about it. Think about your specialty in life. Have you maximized your potential in your field or have you settled? It’s the same thing with marriage. How many people REALLY end up with the person they want to be with? Every one of us has our ideal mate, but due to the average amount of money you make, lack of physical condition and minimal work ethic, you settle for what you can get. That is Lamar Odom. Lamar Odom is exactly what each and every one of us knows…that we do just enough every day to get by.

“But Shane, I saw Lamar Odom in the playoffs, especially in Game 5 show a lot of heart… he really showed me something. “

Stop. Think about it. Put yourself in your situation at school or a job. If you had been slacking off on studying and you had to get ready for a test, what do you do? You cram to get the material in. Same thing at work… if you on the verge of being fired or a deadline rolls around, ALL OF A SUDDEN you have the ability to get everything done and on time! We all amaze ourselves with what we CAN accomplish and always b!tch about those higher up than us at our jobs and say “if I was (enter job title here), I could do a MUCH better job.” That is what Lamar Odom did. He FINALLY played the game of basketball the way he always should and proceeded to rape Shawn Marion for a second straight year.

Personally, I can’t stand Lamar Odom on the Lakers. Since he is such an underachiever, the foundation of the franchise is weak. When the second best player on our team can’t help produce as many wins as Luke Walton, you have a problem. Lamar is the prototypical player for the new generation, except the problem is it only happens once every 5 games. Its like I’m playing Where’s Waldo, but its Where’s Odumb? Do we REALLY have to put a candy cane shirt on his frame to find his game?! ArrGh!! But seriously, Odumb did give me the laugh of my life when he walked the damn ball inbounds before passing it… haha well back to the topic at hand. As a SF he is bigger than everyone else, yet I STILL am waiting for the day he can actually back down Manu Ginobli. As a PF, he is quicker than everyone else, but God only knows he will blow the layup 60% of the time. Honestly, how in the blue H-E-Double hockey stick does a guy who is 6 feet 10 inches blow SO many layups? Its beyond comprehension. When he goes to the FT line, ALL of us know he’s missing one of two, at least. Oh, and not let us forget how many 3 pointers he jacks up, even with shoulder problems. I swear to you he never makes those {swearing is not permitted at GetGarnett.com} 3’s!!!. His defense is subpar at best. Lamar’s only quality would be the 3rd or 4th option on a team. Just imagine how happy Lamar would be as a 4th option. He’d have 7 assists, 10 rebounds, and 5 points. I can even tell you how he gets those 5 points (2-5 FG, 1-4 FT, 0-3 3FG).

The best option for the Lakers is to trade Lamar. He has had 3 {swearing is not permitted at GetGarnett.com} years to prove to everyone he is worth keeping around. Just in case there are those that think trading Lamar and Bynum for JO is too much, think again. An injury prone underachiever and the black big Z with less stamina for a 6 time all star. That’s fine with me. With JO and Kobe, the foundation is much stronger. JO would no longer be double teamed and would be an excellent help defender as a 4 with Kwame Brown. Obviously my first option is KG, but sometimes we have to settle.