“Waste of fu—ing money” – Lamar Odom shares how Mark Cuban heckled him during his Mavericks stint originally appeared on Basketball Network.
Lamar Odom considers his time with the Dallas Mavericks the lowest point of his career. It was a rough stretch made even more challenging by how Mark Cuban handled the situation.
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In his autobiography, “Darkness to Light: A Memoir,” Odom accuses Cuban of tearing into him with obscenities during his stint with the franchise.
“You’re so fu—ing slow and out of shape,’ Cuban screamed at me during a dead-ball situation early in my ill-fated tenure with the Mavs. ‘Waste of fu—ing money,'” an excerpt reads, published in D Magazine.
Odom recalls a physical confrontation with Cuban
Cuban expected production from every player on the payroll, and rightfully so. But with Odom, the Mavericks got more baggage than basketball, and they weren’t prepared to handle any of it.
When the Los Angeles Lakers, the team with which he had won two championships, attempted to trade Odom to New Orleans to acquire Chris Paul, he declared that his relationship with the organization had reached the point of no return. Not too long after, he was on his way to Texas for a first-round pick and an $8.9 million trade exception.
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Odom admits he wasn’t physically and emotionally ready to play. He informed Cuban about it, and the businessman acted as if he understood. Nonetheless, the heckling continued, and it eventually turned physical.
Odom was playing the worst game of the season, so Rick Carlisle, then the Mavericks’ coach, subbed him out. As he sat at the end of the bench next to Cuban, the owner didn’t just let him hear it. He let him feel it, too.
“Cuban extended his right foot and kicked my shin. ‘Come on, motherfucker!’ he shouted. I was stunned. This wasn’t a tap. I felt it. That was the last straw. It was painfully clear he did not respect me as a man,” the retired forward remembered.
Odom “sprang up,” ready to retaliate, but Vince Carter calmed him down. The latter was the voice of reason, reminding his teammate of the repercussions of putting his hands on an NBA team owner.
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“Mark Cuban wouldn’t be protesting this trade”
Odom was coming off his Sixth Man of the Year for the Purple campaign when he joined the Mavericks. He averaged 14.4 points, 8.7 rebounds and 3.0 assists in 32.2 minutes of action.
He looked like a seamless fit with the team that had just lost Tyson Chandler in free agency and was supposed to slide into another sixth-man role and finish games alongside Dirk Nowitzki and Shawn Marion up front.
Even Kobe Bryant, who had spent seven seasons and two titles with Odom, thought Dallas had pulled off a heist.
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“I don’t think Mark Cuban’s protesting this trade,” Bryant told reporters, laughing at the thought of the Lakers getting basically nothing in return.
Ultimately, though, it just wasn’t meant to be. Cuban may have crossed a line, but it’s also fair to say the situation was combustible from the start.
Odom had arrived in Dallas emotionally frayed and physically unready, which was unbecoming of a professional. While the Mavericks could’ve offered more support, accountability was never Lamar’s strong suit.
In hindsight, both sides misread the moment — one expecting too much, the other offering too little — and the result was a partnership that never stood a real chance.
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This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Jun 28, 2025, where it first appeared.
