Still Dreamin' about a Odom/Heat Reunion

Just came across this entry today on the excellent NBA blog, Hardwood Paroxysm. It's a really interesting take on how Odom's inevitable resigning with the Lakers would see him continuing the role of third fiddle to Kobe and Pau, but if he were to sign with Miami he would be a respected vet coming second only to D-Wade.

I must admit, my interest in the NBA hadn't been revived yet during the '03-04 season, so I missed out on the Miami Heat squad featuring Dwyane Wade in his rookie year, Eddie Jones, Lamar Odom, Brian Grant and Caron Butler, prior to his break-out in Washington. It wasn't until the '06 playoffs that I decided that the NBA was cool again, and it seemed like pretty good timing considering that my favorite team would go on to beat the Dallas Mavericks in quite possibly the greatest comeback and the greatest performance by a single player in NBA Finals history. I got to see my childhood hero Alonzo Mourning get his much deserved first ring, even if it was a little unsettling to me that he was coming off the bench for Shaq, with whom I have a love/hate relationship. They won the championship and that was all that seemed to matter at the moment. But now that the smoke has cleared, I can't help but wonder if that ring was worth breaking up the promising core of Wade, Odom and Butler, especially considering the travesty that would occur two seasons after the 'ship.

The thought of having kept that young squad together has grown all the more intriguing over the past few years, as Odom has become one of my favorite players in the league. Fashion sense aside, the guy can play basketball unlike many others. He's one of the select few "point-forwards" in the league along with Hedo Turkoglu, and he's one of those players that epitomizes the "he does more on the court than the stat sheet shows" cliché. It was around the time that I saw this play against the Nuggets in the first round of the 2008 Playoffs that I realized Odom was one of my favorites playing the game.



In the coming weeks, I will continue to type "Lamar Odom" into Google News Search, hoping that one day I'll see a headline that reads, "Odom Signs with Heat, Prompting Wade to Sign Contract Extension." Then I hope to see a headline along the lines of "Boozer to Heat Trade Talks Dead." Not that I'm totally against Boozer joining the Heat, but if it means less playing time for Beasley, it's hard for me to get behind it. And if it means sending Beasley out in the trade, then it's really hard for me to get behind it. I want to see that kid play... in a Heat uniform alongside Odom, ideally.

In case you missed the link above to Hardwood Paroxysm:
Dreaming Oddly Odom: Why Odom Returning To Miami Would Be Too Awesome