Lamar Odom says he never wanted to leave L.A.. (Getty Images)
The narrative from the aftermath of the vetoed three-way trade which would have sent Chris Paul to the Los Angeles Lakers in December has been fairly set in stone. The league vetoed a trade instead of the league acting in the capacity of an owner, because that makes the league sound worse. The Hornets got a worse deal because short-term success is always what you want versus long-term flexibility. And the deal upset Lamar Odom so much he requested a trade which forced the Lakers to move him for nothing. It wasn't a matter of money, it was the Lakers trying to accomodate an unhappy player. 

One problem.

Odom says that's not what happened.

Odom gave Yaho Sports a long, exclusive interview about his situation which has been hard personally and professionaly this season, with shrouded terms about off-court issues used most often and Odom himself admitted he asked for a buyout of his last month with the Mavericks (which the Mavs denied). In the interview, he lays out his version of what happened with the Lakers after the failed trade.

The proposed trade upset Odom, and after the NBA vetoed the deal, Lakers officials said Odom told them he wanted out of L.A.

Odom now says the trade wasn’t his doing.

“Everybody knows that,” he said. “It was something that they were willing to get done no matter what. I think it is OK for them to admit that.”

via Lamar Odom hopes to give Mavs more production - NBA - Yahoo! Sports.

There have been rampant rumors since the trade that the Lakers elected to do the deal based not on Odom's feelings, but rather because they have decided to cut salary. The trade of Derek Fisher is considered to be in the same vein. Odom's claim certainly lends a bit of credence to that paradigm.

Only Odom and Mitch Kupchak know what happened in that conversation in December. But it doesn't change anything. Odom's no longer a Laker, and if he wants his career to continue, he's going to have to face that reality at some point. People move on. He's got a lot of good years left if he can move past what has been a brutally difficult year personally for him.