Lamar Odom was always there for his teammates on the court. According to Los Angeles Clippers coach Doc Rivers, that is part of the reason why so many of his former teammates are there for him now, off the hardwood and at Sunrise Medical Center in Las Vegas, where Odom remains hospitalized.
Right before an exhibition game in China last week, Rivers raised the topic of Odom’s reported drug overdose with his Clippers, the franchise that drafted Odom into the NBA in 1999.
“Lamar had it right on the court,” Rivers explained. “He’s the exact opposite of half the players -- they don’t get it right on the floor. They don’t figure out how to play for their teammates and to be a great teammate. Most guys never get that. That’s what Lamar had. That’s why everyone is so emotional; he is a great teammate … you hear [that] now.” Los Angeles lost by 42 in the hours after the discussion, and the loss seemed to be of the least importance.
In the hours and days following Odom’s hospitalization on Tuesday night, stories detailing Odom’s warmhearted nature poured in, seemingly by the dozen. Everyone from fans to former rivals, past teammates to in-laws shared anecdotes about L.O., leading up to the good news on Friday that he had awoken from his four-day coma and communicated with estranged wife Khloe Kardashian.
“Once he left the floor, that’s where he has a lot of demons,” Rivers continued. “We talked about it a lot. I don’t know if that was the right conversation to have before a preseason game because the guys were very emotional about it, but I just thought it was the right thing to do.”
As soon as the Clippers returned from China last Wednesday, big men Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan headed east again -- this time to Vegas, to visit the then comatose Odom.
“I think he has an impact on everybody,” Griffin said. “It’s not something that’s fun to talk about, but we wanted to be there for support … He probably [had] no idea we were there, but just to be there and to see him, hopefully he knows there’s a lot of guys that love him and want to see him do better and want to see him get better.”
Clippers point guard and National Basketball Players Association president Chris Paul also flew to Nevada to see his former teammate.
“L.O. is just one of those guys who, when he was on our team, he had that veteran leadership,” Paul said. “He knew what it took to win. He was very lighthearted. When things got a little bit too serious, he was the one who kept us relaxed and laughed and stuff like that. He's just an unbelievable guy.”
The three Clippers were just a handful of the past and present NBA players to sit by Odom’s bedside in recent days. Kobe Bryant was reportedly there first, while yesterday Golden State Warriors interim head coach and former Lakers teammate Luke Walton took an off-day to fly out and visit the former Sixth Man of the Year.
With news of Odom’s continued improvement rolling in, the NBA family has been able to take a sigh of relief -- but it still has not stopped praying for and thinking of its “unbelievable” “brother,” Lamar.
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