Lamar Odom had no idea it was going to be this bad.
As the fourth overall pick in last summer's draft, Odom knew the Clippers weren't the Lakers. He was well-aware of the Clippers' unmatched record for futility. But he had a rookie's confidence, a feeling that once he arrived on the scene, all that would turn around.
Boy, was he wrong. Wednesday night at the Delta Center, the Clippers lost their 64th game, 102-93 to the Utah Jazz. They made it interesting by overcoming a 21-point deficit to get within one with 7 minutes left, but then the Jazz got serious again and the Clippers fell — again.
It's a scene Odom has witnessed far too many times in his short NBA career. Being a Clipper has been a frustrating experience, and sometimes that frustration is evident on the court.
Against the Jazz, Odom showed some frustration when he fouled out with 2:20 left. He felt Jazz guard John Stockton had suckered the officials into making the call, and he demonstrated that fact for referee Hugh Evans with a gyrating impersonation of Stockton in front of the scorers' table. The crowd loved it and enjoyed a hearty laugh, as did Clippers assistant coach Dennis Johnson, but the rookie hadn't done it to amuse anyone.
"I was just trying to demonstrate to Hugh how he tried to get the foul called," Odom said. "He (Stockton) was stuck and just went wild. He tried to draw the contact. That's something he's been known for."
Of course, the Clippers are used to getting little respect from the officials — or anyone else, for that matter. The Los Angeles newspapers don't even bother to send a reporter to the Clippers' road games anymore. So even while they're out there scrapping, on the nights when they do scrap, the Clippers know they're battling not so much to win as to maintain some dignity. That's why they weren't particularly offended when Jazz coach Jerry Sloan gave his starters a lengthy rest and put in his deep bench against the visitors. Having opponents not take them seriously is nothing new for the Clippers.
"We're just trying to make plays, trying to fight embarrassment," Odom said. "We have to prove ourselves before we get teams serious about playing us."
This was a far cry from what Odom expected when he arrived in Los Angeles. When he showed up for camp last fall the Clippers had the No. 1 pick from the previous season's draft, center Michael Olowokandi, as well as highly regarded young players in power forward Maurice Taylor and guard Derek Anderson. To Odom, the team's prospects looked good.
But while four good players are more than enough to make a college team successful, it's nowhere near enough in the NBA, a fact Odom learned in a hurry. After a blazing start to the season, during which he was touted as a rookie-of-the-year candidate, he hit not just the rookie wall, but the far-more-fearsome Clipper wall.
"It's hard," he acknowledged. "It's hard not to get labeled as a loser, hard to avoid the negativity. It's one of the toughest mental tests I've ever been through."