SANDBAG: LAMAR ODOM

The blog comments reeked of a good riddance vibe as NBA enthusiasts and Dallas Maverick fans applauded the divorce between Lamar Odom and the 2011 World Champions. But there’s nothing more troubling than when elite public figures receive preferential treatment or conversely are ridiculed because they’ve let down the expectations of a fan base.

Lamar Odom was shredded today in the media after several wire stories ran disclosing the dissolution of the marriage between the Dallas Mavericks and last year’s NBA Sixth Man award winner. And one of my favorite quotes authored by the “avatar-less” contributor known as Tiggle read:

He should be forced to pay back all his earnings. Yes he had problems but who hasn’t. They gave him time off and did everything for him and what did he give back? The worst performance I have seen in a long time. There are a ton of people out there that could have put up a better performance for 200k a-year. I am tired of athletes making all this money for nothing. I see it all the time, they don’t care as long as they get their paycheck.

Maybe the “Tiggler” is right. If you lost your mom to cancer at 12, an infant son, a 24-year old cousin to murder in 2011 and rode in an SUV that struck and killed a 15-year old pedestrian, you would need only stacks of cash. Because it’s common place to experience those events in one lifetime. Moreover, it’s standard emotional operating procedure to play basketball effectively at the highest level that exists after even an intermittent succession of these mild tragedies.

It had been assumed and postulated that perhaps, for the first time in Odom’s life he was experiencing a type of joy unrelated to his unique skill-set. When he married Khloe Kardashian it seemed like a renaissance of storybook proportion. And why not? Haven’t we experienced jubilant ecstasy at least due to infatuation if not robust romantic love? By the same token, having conducted a few funerals and attended more, I think death is the most jarring element of humanity. It can drive people insane at worst and, in muted form, send them reeling into years of reclusion. Handling loss is heavy lifting and your bank account can’t save you Jack. I don’t mind people being glad that a guy who didn’t help their team just made tracks. But it’s embarrassing to watch people pretend they are a friend of sorrows akin to Lamar Odom’s. How many of us are? And even if we were, how would we fair on a national stage where healing is inconsequential. Money is king in this world and because of its reign, even water-cooler experts bask in delusion breathing fiery epithets at the icons of sport. Tiggle was right about one thing, “Who hasn’t [had problems]?” Doggone right. Most of us have the kinds of mortal wounds that go untreated and that’s why we can look at other hurting people and say, “suck it up homie. You make stacks. That’s all the remedy you need for that ailing mind of yours.” If this wasn’t a public blog I’d tell you what that logic really is.

Something makes me think that Lamar Odom doesn’t want excuses made for his forgettable season. After all, he has forged a career in arguably the most competitive professional athletic job market in the United States. Some of that is being a 6-foot 11-inch, nimble utility but much of it is 10,000 plus hours perfecting a craft just like the other elites. All that needs to be said and acknowledged is that closer study might reveal the kryptonite that is disappointment via human loss. The mere thought of death makes people nervous. It’s incredulous to think a life filled with deathly episodes wouldn’t paralyze a person at times.  Maybe we really are connected to each other in ways that impair even the most determined of wills. Careful with those stones everybody, especially y’all who toss them anonymously in the blogosphere.