The past few months have been a roller coaster ride for former Lakers forward Lamar Odom. As if getting traded after arguably his best season with the Lakers wasn’t bad enough, Odom’s career in the NBA gradually started to fall apart with the defending NBA champion Dallas Mavericks.
After a heated clash with Mavs owner Mark Cuban, Lamar Odom was officially deactivated by Dallas and basically sent packing for the rest of the season. It seemed to be a forgone conclusion that Odom won’t be with the Mavs for long after a dreadful first season with the team, but Dallas telling the reigning Sixth Man of the Year to go home with the playoffs around the corner was a surprise.
Now that Lamar Odom has been shut down for the year in the NBA, the attention of the veteran forward has turned to Team USA and the 2012 Olympic Games in London, England. Unfortunately, the meltdown with the Dallas Mavericks has carried over to Team USA with Odom officially being eliminated from consideration for Mike Krzyzewski’s final 12-man roster as reported by Chris Tomasson of Fox Sports Florida:
And a source said that forward Lamar Odom, who had a poor season and has been made inactive by Dallas for the rest of the season due to squabbles with the team, has been eliminated from Olympic consideration.
Along with Lamar Odom out of the running for Team USA, Chauncey Billups has also been eliminated due to the season-ending Achilles injury he suffered earlier in the NBA season with the Los Angeles Clippers.
With that being said, 18 NBA players are left in the mix for the final 12-man roster for Coach K. Kobe Bryant will almost certainly be a finalist unless he suffers an injury or bows out for other reasons. Other potential guarantees to make the final 12 will be LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony, Deron Williams, Kevin Durant, Derrick Rose, Chris Paul, Kevin Love, Blake Griffin and Dwight Howard.
Players likely to get the boot are Eric Gordon, Andre Igoudala, Rudy Gay, LaMarcus Aldridge and Tyson Chandler.
