The road to a championship creates quite the bond amongst teammates, especially when embarking on back-to-back NBA championships. The Los Angeles Lakers have 16 historic championships in their illustrious season, with the most recent coming in 2008-09 and 2009-10.
When celebrating a championship, players tend to remember all the trial and tribulations it took to reach the top of the NBA, creating a never-ending friendship with the teammates they got their ring with.
That was the case for Lakers’ Lamar Odom, Luke Walton and Brian Shaw, as the trio met at a restaurant called ‘The Lobster Restaurant’ in Santa Monica for dinner, alongside former NBA veteran Keyon Dooling. Rumors have swirled regarding Odom’s sudden reemergence into the NBA picture, as a possible coaching candidate on Walton’s staff.
The 37-year-old has stayed out of the limelight of late, as he battles through his voluntary check in and check out of rehab while dealing with the repercussions of his recent divorce.
While the media heavily critiqued Odom, his basketball knowledge goes beyond that of many NBA coaches. The 2010-11 NBA Sixth Man of the Year had perhaps the prime of his career during his stint with the Lakers, pairing beautifully alongside Pau Gasol.
During his seven seasons with the Lakers, Odom averaged 13.7 points, 9.5 rebounds, 3.7 assists and almost a block (0.9) and a steal (0.9) per game. He flourished under the council of Phil Jackson, as the all-time great coach was able to teach a selfless attitude to those two championship teams.
Odom reached out to Walton about a possible coaching position with the Lakers, while Walton hasn’t directly addressed the situation in the media.
Prior to Walton and Odom meeting on Saturday, TMZ caught up with both of them and hit them with a mirage of questions. When Walton was asked about Odom’s possible future role with the Lakers, the 26th head coach in franchise history shrugged the notion, courtesy of TMZ:
