Phil Jackson changed his tune about Lamar Odom on Thursday from what had been a bad song (Crank That – Soldier Boy*) to a pleasant tune (Viva La Vida – Coldplay).
*Even though it was fun for a minute.
“(Odom’s) starting to get a feel for it,” Jackson said. “He’s starting to play basketball. He looks like he’s playing really well now. His timing is there, his reaction is there, his conditioning is getting better. All those things.”
Jackson saved his criticism of the day for Andrew Bynum, whom Phil said took a step backwards in practice yesterday by not really getting himself involved. Jackson added that he “didn’t know” if Bynum’s contract situation was on his mind.
After Phil was done, Bynum addressed the media and mentioned that he “doesn’t really think about (his contract),” giving the answer you’d expect to hear. Any type of contract question is usually going to render an answer such as that… But just to check, I said this:
“Basically, you just play well and play hard and things will take care of themselves?”
“Yes sir,” he responded.
Intent on jumping to something he’d rather talk about it, I pulled him aside and had him play “Would You Rather” with questions like: “Be able to communicate with animals or be able to read women’s minds.” Then I had Jordan Farmar answer the same questions – check back tomorrow for their answers.
