Boxing out her man
The Yoko Ono of the NBA: Khloe Kardashian puts the LA Lakers' title in jeopardy
How can Lamar Odom grab center stage when his wife is hogging it?
If you didn't know better, you'd think that Khloe Kardashian was the one playingin the NBA Finals.
Could Lamar Odom's marriage to attention-seeking-missile Khloe Kardashian cost the Los Angeles an NBA Championship?
It's no longer out of the realm of possibility. And those Yoko Ono jokes that hit the union almost from the beginning are probably no longer funny to Kobe Bryant.
Lamar Odom is one of the most talented — and one of the most docile — players in the NBA. It's hard to get Odom to exert himself, to grab center stage, to take over a game, which is exactly what the Lakers need in an NBA Finals that went into Game 5 tied 2-2.
It was bad enough when Odom willingly blended into Kobe's shadow all the time.
Now, his wife is elbowing him out of the spotlight as well. With Odom on the NBA's biggest stage, Khloe Kardashian is in more demand than ever — and she's taking advantage of. You'd better believe, that Khloe is going to get her facetime. Khloe Kardashian decides to go on Jimmy Kimmel and spend five minutes breaking down the Lakers. She goes out of her way to publicly defend her sister's former boyfriend Reggie Bush from the USC football cheating scandal, telling a Minnesota radio station (Khloe is available for interviews in any market) that "Reggie's not the bribin' type."
She pretends to be defusing those pregnancy rumors swirling around her by saying she's "just fat", knowing all the while that this will only keep the story rolling along. (She did this "damage control" while at one of the NBA Finals games).
This all can't be helping the husband who cannot find the shout in his game.
Lamar Odom clearly needs to be the center of attention somewhere if the Lakers are going to triumph. Odom is one of the rare NBA stars who has maintained a real-life perspective. He's genuinely grateful and appreciative of everything he has. He knows he's already more than won in the game of life — having gone from struggling in the South Jamaican, Queens projects to strolling the beaches of Santa Monica as a multi-millionaire. He doesn't die to win as much as some others, because he gets the bigger picture of his improbable American success story.
This makes him one of the most interesting guys in the NBA to talk with. And one of the most frustrating to coach.
In contrast, Kobe isn't grateful to anyone. He thinks people should be in awe if he deigns to grunt at them. That's the paradox of sports. Nice guys usually don't finish.
Odom needs to find a little more Kobe selfishness for at least a few days, if the Lakers are going to win though. He doesn't need his wife nabbing his spotlight. He needs to know that this moment is about him.
The Los Angeles Lakers are clearly a more talented team than the Boston Celtics. Kobe and company should win their second straight NBA Championship.
But should and will are two different things. Khloe Kardashian might be providing the won't.
