Memories? Gladly, Odom Is One Now

Before evaluating the Clippers’ decision to thank Lamar Odom for the memories, a question must be asked.

What memories?

In his four years here, I can’t remember a single thing Lamar Odom did on the basketball court.

I remember Elton Brand grabbing 23 rebounds in Memphis. I remember Corey Maggette dropping 28 points on the Lakers. Heck, if l try hard enough, I can even remember Michael Olowokandi hustling.

But when it comes to basketball and Lamar Odom, I draw a blank as expansive as his emotionless mug.

Did he ever make a game-winning shot? Maybe, but I remember only his games-costing drug suspension.

Did he ever set a record? Maybe, but I remember only his being the first player in history to suffer a season-ending ankle injury when he dunked a basketball with his right hand while sidelined because of an injured left wrist.

Did we forget any body parts? Oh, yeah, his head.

I remember not his energy, but his excuses. I remember not his potential for greatness, but his potential for trouble.

Oh wait. Here’s a basketball memory.

Those magical moments of 2001-02, which aroused the most hope in Clipper history and ended with players dancing on the Staples Center press table?

That season, Odom played all of 29 games.

For four years, the Clippers held his hand, stroked his ego, covered his back.

In return, as soon as he was able, he sprinted out the front door and insulted them from the street, publicly ripping the organization and begging it not to match the offer from the Miami Heat.

It’s one thing to be insulted for the $24 million he was offered last month. It’s another thing to pay $63 million for the privilege.

The Clippers considered impact, considered character, considered how maybe they couldn’t remember anything about his basketball either, and they said “no.”

As with everything that comes out of Donald Sterling’s mouth, they know it will appear to be a cheap “no.” But from here, it sounds rich.

They will now have $8 million annually available under the salary cap after this season. And since new Coach Mike Dunleavy has seemingly already inspired Sterling to part with $124 million this summer, who knows, maybe he’ll actually spend it.

For the first time in a long time, the Clippers are also rich in players who want to be here, shaping a locker room that will look as strange as a bridge to Alcatraz.

Yeah, yeah, Odom’s departure means that three-fifths of last year’s Clipper starting lineup has left town, but look at it this way:

That team being 27-55, this is a bad thing?

That team had the fourth-worst record in basketball. That team was easily distracted and passively defeated. That team didn’t honor its contract to the Clippers or the community. That team got its coach fired.

Word is, before Dunleavy agreed to bring his big-game experience and important locker-room credibility to town, he told the Clippers there were at least two players who could not be allowed to leave.

Those two players didn’t leave.

Brand and Maggette will form the core of a team that should run harder, play longer, and care more.

Will they be more talented than the previous group? Of course not.

But does the current group have a chance to change the air of negativity that has been blowing like musty air through every vent in the Clipper house? Absolutely.

Michael Olowokandi didn’t want to be here, so much that he intimated to reporters that he had stopped playing hard. As cornerstones go, he would have been as reliable as Jell-O.

Then there was Andre Miller, who, to be precise, should not be counted in the company of those who left town. In order to leave, one must first show up, and he never did.

Certainly, the Clippers would be better with their 7-footer, and should have dealt with Olowokandi before he turned sour.

And, yes, considering he arrived in a trade for the popular Darius Miles, Miller’s problems should have been addressed sooner.

Now that Sterling has shown he will spend the money, the next challenge for his staffers is to convince him to spend it while the stores are still open.

But in the Lamar Odom deal, for once, it was the other guys who got ripped off.

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Bill Plaschke can be reached at [email protected].