The 25 best NBA players never to make an All-Star game — 6. Lamar Odom
The All-Star Game is filled with players who fit into generally accepted categories. The league’s elite scorers, players who got hot to start the season and put up crazy numbers, and second-and-third options on dominant teams. Then, often a few players get in on name value, former All-Stars still approximating their production from earlier in their career.
Lamar Odom was one of the most unique and versatile players of his generation, a fact occasionally obscured by team dysfunction and off-court turmoil. He ultimately saw his versatility maximized under head coach Phil Jackson on the Los Angeles Lakers, and he was a key part of the team’s two titles in 2009 and 2010. He won Sixth Man of the Year in 2010-11 in recognition of his contributions.
But that versatility didn’t translate into an All-Star berth. His numbers were, perhaps, too unique. He began his season with the Los Angeles Clippers, and his rookie year averaged 16.6 points, 7.8 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.3 blocks per game. That’s a lot of numbers — and that’s the point. Odom contributed across the board, doing a little bit of everything. Only a dozen times in league history has a player ever put up those averages and not been an All-Star, and Odom did that as a rookie.
The next decade of his career was more of the same; Odom scored, rebounded, passed and defended, but never led the league in any specific category. He racked up a dozen triple doubles, in the top-50 all-time. With the Lakers, he was frequently in the top-10 in defensive rating, his ability to guard up-and-down the lineup key to their success. Odom did it all, even if he never had the honor of being an All-Star.
Closest Call: While Odom’s best seasons were with the Lakers in the second half of his career, Odom’s best shot at an All-Star berth likely came in the 2003-04 season. He signed with the Miami Heat as a free agent and had a career year, averaging 17.1 points, 9.7 rebounds and 4.1 assists for a playoff team just breaking in a rookie Dwayne Wade. Players such as Jamaal Magloire were questionable additions to an All-Star roster that likely should have included Odom instead.