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Bad omen for Odom?

E-mail | Print | Comments () Posted by Steve Silva, Boston.com Staff June 9, 2008 06:17 PM

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Odom's t-shirts went on sale Saturday | Undefeated Photo

Lakers forward Lamar Odom has a message for Boston that may come back to bite him. And it could turn into some good bulletin board material for the Celtics.

Odom, whose Lakers team trails the Celtics two games to none in the NBA Finals, has teamed up with the Los Angeles high-end sneaker store, Undefeated, to produce a T-shirt featuring the message "Boston Sucks."

The T-shirt, printed in the Lakers's colors, has the words "Boston Sucks Since 1946" printed on the front with a "U-Man" image . The back of the shirt has "Team Odom 7" printed on it.

Undefeated store photo

About 200 shirts went on sale at Undefeated's South La Brea Avenue store in Los Angeles on Saturday, but an employee at the store today said the anti-Boston shirts are currently sold out, but we should check back on Wednesday after Game 3, so don't expect to see the inner rim of the Staples Center draped with these purple-and-gold shirts tomorrow night.

The Team Odom shirt sells for $20 and part of the proceeds go to Odom's charity foundation, Cathy's Kids.

The shirts could be taking a backlash on Odom already. Lakers coach Phil Jackson last night said the Lakers forward looked confused at times.

"(There were) situations that got him into foul trouble and little offensive sequences that, rather than taking a shot or making the right play (it) looked like he was a confused player out there," the coach said. "We'll try and get that straightened out."

When informed his coach said he seemed confused, Odom replied: "We disagree totally on that one."

About not playing in the final period, Odom said: "It's not about me right now. I'm a team player. It was fun to watch. We realize if we play the right way, we can beat this team. We have to play 48 minutes the right way."

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More Celtics-Lakers tidbits:

The LA Times gives us an early look at a story running in tomorrow's paper on Paul Pierce and his early days in Los Angeles, growing up a Lakers fan. "When you look at it, it was kind of nasty because you went to class all sweaty at the time," Pierce said in the article about waking up at 5:30 a.m. to go to the gym. "But hey, that's what you had to do back then to get to this point."

ESPN's Bill Simmons, based in Los Angeles, chimed in today about his trip back home to Boston and how much the city and its team have changed since he left town. "Everyone is wandering around a rejuvenated city with hoarse voices, talking about the game and trying to figure out what will happen in Game 3," Simmons writes. "There is nowhere I would rather be. The Celtics are back."

Former Lakers and Basketball Hall of Famer Jerry West arrived in Los Angeles with the Larry O'Brien championship trophy today.

This could be a good omen for Boston.

Don't count out Kobe Bryant and the Lakers yet, West advises.

"Everyone wants to look at him, 'Well, he's not shooting very well.' Boston is limiting his opportunities, has done a heck of a job on him," West said. "They're making people shoot that they probably want to shoot. But this series is not over, by any stretch of the imagination.

"He provides everything for the Lakers. He provides the energy, the toughness, the heart and soul of this team. He's carried the team this far. I wouldn't be surprised to see him take it upon himself maybe to try to get the ball to the basket a little bit better."

AP Photo