Lamar Odom making a case for sixth man of the year award

 it's uncertain whether Odom will win the sixth man of the year award. There are others up for consideration after all. When the Lakers and Mavericks meet Thursday, a perhaps unfair barometer will be used on how Odom and Jason Terry go up against each other, two completely different players both Jackson and Odom say considering Terry is a guard expected to score and Odom is a forward expected to rebound. But it's still an intriguing storyline nonetheless, considering Terry averages a second team-best 6.4 points, 4.2 assists and 1.1 steals. And in an interesting twist, some Lakers wondered if his 34 starts during would penalize him, even though the only the criteria remains that he has to play more games off the bench. In those 39 games as a reserve and 34 games as a starter, Odom seamlessly filled the same role. He plugged in the void the Lakers needed. He can focus on providing coast-to-coast dunks and layups and outlet passes, sparking the momentum plays he wants to provide off the bench. Or when Bynum missed the first 24 games when he rehabbed from his surgically repaired knee, transition back into the lineup as a reserve the following () games and served a two-game suspension for picking up a flagrant foul type 2, Odom immediately filled that starter's spot, by replacing the  post presence and widening the floor for the backcourt. Frankly, Odom's role has remained mostly the same as a starter and reserve, but he initially saw it as a blow to his ego.
"As a sportsman, you're used to starting," he explained. "I used to be one of the guys and go to guys on the team. I'd be lying if I told you it didn't. I'll be honest with you, a little bit. I've always started for every team I was on and was one of the first three options."
A 2008-09 season that Odom characterized as "up-and-down" and a 2009-10 season where he said he "mentally accepted" the role soon paved the way to where Odom currently sits. He's being considered for an award Jackson argues should measure the "impact a player has on a team." Even with being demoted to a bench position, in no way has Odom's impact been diminished.