Lamar Odom is well known among basketball fans for his versatile style of play. What most of them will now know is that Odom was once given the nickname “The Goods” because that’s what he pretty much delivered during every game during his younger years. When he was a star with the University of Rhode Island, Odom would help lead the team to the conference championship and also gave them their first A-10 tournament championship.

Following his senior year in college, Odom became eligible for the upcoming 1999 NBA Draft. He was selected with the sixth overall pick by the Los Angeles Clippers and would go on to have a very strong rookie season with the team. His stats of 16.6 ppg, 7.8 rpg and 4.2 apg were a testament to the kind of versatile game Odom was capable of. He was named to the NBA All Rookie Second Team for his efforts.

After spending his first five seasons with the Clippers, Odom would become a free agent in 2003 and sign with the Miami Heat, where he would play alongside rising star Dwyane Wade. He, Wade and the explosive Caron Butler would help lead the Heat to the second round of the playoffs where they would lose to the Indiana Pacers in 6 games.

For the following season, Odom and Butler were traded to the Los Angeles Lakers. After his stellar season with the Heat just a year earlier, Odom would continue to be a solid player for the Lakers, but they would end up missing the playoffs during his first season with them. He would prove to be a valuable asset to the Lakers, as he helped lead them to back-to-back NBA titles in 2009 and 2010.

Odom’s size and athleticism generally make him a tough matchup for most defenders playing his position. He has consistently improved his offensive game throughout his career and has also shown good shooting touch from the 3-point line. He is also a very capable defender and rebounder, and his size allows him to effectively guard smaller players. Another often overlooked facet of Odom’s game is his ability to create plays. Odom is averaging 4 assists per game for his career and while that may not sound like much, his willingness to make the extra pass has helped his teams in more ways than one.