Dancer Gallery Nine

Series Review: Round One

2004 Playoffs Round 2, Game 3

At 6-10 with spider-like arms and superhuman skills, Lamar Odom explodes off the floor like a human exclamation point, emphatically punctuating a game, a season, a series.

But before HEAT fans got to know the 24-year-old forward this season, he was closer to a dramatically different form of punctuation.

He was a question mark.

Odom came to Miami as the world’s longest riddle, having followed a brilliant first two seasons with the Los Angeles Clippers with two years marked by injury, suspensions and inconsistency.

After playing in just 78 games with the perennially underachieving Clippers during that two-year stretch, the former New York City schoolboy prodigy found himself lost out West and tagged with a whole new list of labels.

As Odom pleaded and pushed to work his way out of L.A., compliments like “versatile” and “sensational” were drowned out by the hiss of pejoratives like “disappointing” and “unpredictable.”

So the Clippers let Odom go, and the HEAT pounced on the opportunity, inking him to a six-year, $65-million contract on Aug. 25, 2003.

The move was hailed in some corners and ridiculed in others, but one thing was undeniable:

The reputation of both organization and player hung in the balance.

Now, just over eight months later, the move is working out wonderfully for both parties.

“We wouldn’t be here without him,” says veteran HEAT guard Eddie Jones. “We wouldn’t be anywhere near this point of the season without Lamar. He’s the guy that gets us going.”

“This is awesome, playing in the playoffs,” says Odom through a smile. “It’s awesome. I’ve got to go way back to high school to feel like this. The whole team is clicking. It’s a lot of fun right now.”

Odom and the HEAT have ridden a brilliant late-season surge to the franchise’s first playoff series victory in four years and a battle against the top-seeded Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

Playing at power forward for the first time in his career, Odom averaged 17.1 points, 9.7 rebounds and 4.1 assists in a career-high 80 games. His rebounding average was a career- and team-high, and his scoring output trailed only Jones’ 17.3. He even stuck 61 3-pointers – a remarkable number for a player his size.

And in his first-ever playoff series, Odom seized the spotlight, averaging a team-high 16.3 points, 7.9 rebounds and 3.7 assists while playing a team-high 39.3 minutes a game.

“He’s maturing, man,” says Jones. “From the time I saw him this summer, he’s grown up big time. He’s becoming a great player on both ends.

“Lamar has done everything for us. He’s led us in pretty much every category.”

Odom’s versatility allowed the HEAT to play him in several different roles, and he finished sixth in balloting for the NBA’s Most Improved Player Award. But statistics don’t fully quantify Odom’s maturation.

“It goes way beyond his numbers,” says HEAT head coach Stan Van Gundy. “I think that, first of all, because of what had been said about him in the past, he knew all the eyes would be on him. Then when you’re a guy, on top of that, who helps make other people better by the way you pass the ball, play unselfishly and his willingness to get in and battle on the boards and do the dirty work … I think, over time, he’s earned his leadership position.”

“I think he’s a great teammate, first and foremost,” says Jones. “He’s not a selfish guy. Of all the things they said about him in the past, he’s none of those things. I don’t see any of those things.”

“Not only has he shown me a lot on the court, but he’s shown me a lot off the court,” says rookie guard Dwyane Wade. “His intelligence of the game and his wisdom comes in handy a lot. He’s a great player, but he has a great mind for the game as well.”

Never was Odom’s overall impact more apparent than in the HEAT’s deciding Game 7 win over the New Orleans Hornets on May 4. Following a nine-point, six-turnover outing in a Game 6 loss in New Orleans that left some questioning his heart, Odom exploded in Game 7, stuffing the stat sheet with 16 points, nine rebounds, three assists and four steals. When the final horn sounded on the HEAT’s 85-77 victory, Odom launched the ball high into AmericanAirlines Arena’s electric atmosphere.

“He did a great job, on the defensive and offensive ends,” said HEAT forward Caron Butler after the game. “He made good plays, good decisions, and was one of our key guys out there. We put the ball in his hands and he did a great job.”

“Lamar and Dwyane Wade put an incredible amount of pressure on us all series long with their penetration,” said Hornets head coach Tim Floyd.

“I just played my game,” says Odom, who now sports a proud playoff beard. “It was nothing that I normally don’t do. Just played my game, stayed aggressive. Just being Lamar Odom.”

And, for the first time in years, being Lamar Odom is enough to make a team very, very happy.