The Los Angeles Lakers have faced adversity this season as defending world champions. Now, they are facing one of their toughest challenges yet — dealing with injuries to several key players, including Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol and Ron Artest. With so many players down, coach Phil Jackson wants Lamar Odom to step up and play more aggressively, the Los Angeles Daily News reports.
"We've got to get Lamar playing basketball again, where he's taking responsibility in some offensive way with Kobe [hurting]," Jackson told the Daily News following Tuesday's loss to the Spurs.
Odom says he’s heard the demands before. This time, however, he is ready to respond.
"You'll probably see me break the offense a bit more. … You'll probably see that more in this little period,” Odom said in the newspaper. “I can tell when Phil is coming at me a certain way. He might be vague, but I've learned kind of where he's coming from.”
Coach Jackson was not the only one to challenge Odom this week. Bryant challenged Odom and Artest to be more aggressive prior to Wednesday's game in Dallas.
The challenges have paid dividends for the Lakers to this point. On Wednesday, the Lakers beat the Mavericks 100-95 behind Odom's 18 points and 14 rebounds to notch the franchise's 3,000th win.
