NBA: Former Laker Admits He Almost Beat Mark Cuban During Locker Room Incident

A former Los Angeles Lakers forward admitted that he almost beat Mark Cuban during a locker room incident.

During the twilight years of his NBA career, former Laker Lamar Odom played 50 games for the Dallas Mavericks, a team owned by American entrepreneur Cuban. Odom’s brief stay with the Mavs didn’t really go well as he was going through some emotional struggles at the time. One of his closest rela tives was killed and Odom admitted that it was one of the reasons why his performance was subpar. The two-time NBA champ said that he had talked to Cuban about it and he the Mavs boss was totally OK with it.

In an exclusive interview with “In Depth with Graham Bensinger,” Odom revealed that during a regular season game against the Memphis Grizzlies, Odom felt that Cuban expected him to get it over with and play good basketball. Things got a little out of hand at the locker room when Cuban allegedly “kicked Odom in his shin,” The 6-foot-10 forward nearly snapped on Cuban and admitted that he was close to beating up their boss.

According to Odom, the situation had escalated but he still managed to control his temper. He also noted that his then teammate Vince Carter gave him a look that kind of stating: “don’t do it.”

“We were in a game against the Memphis Grizzlies. He didn’t like how I was playing. I guess my effort and energy was bad, and it got emotional he kind of kicked me in my shin and told me, ‘Come on, get with it.’ I just took it as the ultimate sign of disrespect. Vince (Carter) is lookin’ like me like, “don’t do it. I guess he probably saw the look on my face; I was ready to toss Mark Cuban’s ass around that locker room,” Odom recalled.

Odom later admitted that he regrets not being in a better place during his time with the Mavs as he could have learned a lot from Cuban, the franchise, and gained more from the entire Dallas experience.

In the same interview, Odom also reflected on the darkest days of his life. As per the former NBA “6^th Man of the year,” he already had a total of 12 strokes and 6 heart attacks as a result of his drug and alcohol addiction. Fortunately, he’s doing a lot better now and is living happily with his fiancé, whom he vowed not to have sex with until after marriage.