Lamar Odom ..Missing LA Life

amar Odom departed from LA after crying about being involved in a trade for possibly the best point guard in the league...Chris Paul...Lamar enjoyed the luxury of playing beside who I believe is the best shooting guard of all time Kobe Bryant...heck the best skilled player to ever lace kicks!..He spent 7 years filling in the void for LA when Andrew Bynum suffered one of his seasonal injuries, when Pau Gasoil was playing Europeaningly soft...and at other times providing a spark off the bench...He also served as the only other person on the court that was a suitable ball handler, play maker, and rebounder...no..I didn’t forget Derek Fisher as a ball handler! In that role he went on to be a 2 time NBA Champion...He also won the 6th man of the year award with LA averaging 14.4 pts.8.7 rebounds...and 3.0 assists per game..That was the good life for L.O...Now he has moved on to what probably seemed like greener pastures to him at the time...He sold his soul to billionaire Mark Cuban and the defending NBA Champion Dallas Mavericks...This is the same team mind you that embarrassed the Lakers in the playoffs...with an uncharacteristic sweep in 2011..So in a very literal sports sense..There the enemy! He comes into Dallas initially about 15 lbs. over weight...and out of shape...seemingly after his marriage to the "other" Kardashian...Lamar is either washed up...or doesn’t have the drive once accounted to him playing for the La Lakers...In comparison..Lamar is averaging 7pts...4.4 rebs...and 1.2 assists per game...a sharp drop off from this previous year...There is another element to this story though that I haven’t heard any analysts talk about in which I believe is very profound...Lets call it the Kobe effect...Early in Kobe's career,.. Actually only until the post Shaq era...Kobe was accused of not making his teammates better...I have a very opposing view point in which I will site 3 prime examples... Kwame Brown...Yes the infamous bust Kwame Brown’s stats were near its peak in his time with LA Lakers...They actually were surprisingly decent!..Trevor Ariza...before anyone wants to argue about this one...Trevor Ariza’s pts. Per game were slightly higher with the Houston Rockets...because he played significantly more minutes per game…but he has absolutely no star power now...infact I haven’t heard his name mentioned more then 3 times since leaving the Lakers..Last but certainly not least on this list is Smush Parker... This guy isn’t even in the league anymore…but with the Lakers he actually was a very productive player…As a Rasheed Wallace would say “ball don’t lie”…well neither do the stats!Those are all former Laker players who benefited from playing alongside Kobe and not to be forgotten or understated..the coaching of Phil Jackson ...All those had there best years with the Lakers ...The fact is we may have to add L.O to that list if he magically doesn’t reappear in a Lakers uniform this summer..I doubt that because they will have to have plenty of cap space for Superman Jr…Dwight Howard! I am certain if Paul Gasol is ever actually dealt to another team he will be cemented onto the list of players that had there best run in a purple and yellow uniform.