"With one dirty and unnecessary elbow to Dallas guard Jose Barea, Lakers center Andrew Bynum just wasted a season-long effort in avoiding a major injury, establishing a defensive identity and showing the dominance the organization envisioned he'd once own.

With one dirty and unnecessary shove with his shoulder into Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki, Lakers forward Lamar Odom just wasted a season-long effort in playing at his most consistent, winning the NBA's sixth man of the year and continually earning the teams' respect as a positive locker-room presence.

Bynum and Odom might have acted out of frustration with the minutes waning in an eventual 122-86 Game 4 loss Sunday to the Dallas Mavericks that ended their season. They might have deviated from their normal character. And they might not have intended any harm on Nowitzki and Barea. But it doesn't matter. Their classless acts are repulsive and without any valid excuse.

Bynum and Odom set the worst examples on how to lose with dignity, making the Detroit Pistons' walkout seconds before the Chicago Bulls swept them in the 1991 Eastern Conference finals comparatively mild. Odom and Bynum gave the worst sendoff imaginable for Lakers Coach Phil Jackson, who already didn't deserve an ending in this fashionto what's presumed to be his last NBA game in a storied 19-year coaching career. And Odom and Bynum gave the Lakers organization every reason not to want to keep them on their roster next season.

Both have guaranteed contracts and represent a valuable piece to the Lakers. But with Magic Johnson's insistence that owner Jerry Buss "blow this team up" should the Lakers get swept, everyone outside of Kobe Bryant shouldn't be protected from trades and that they should do everything imaginable to obtain Magic center Dwight Howard, it's far from speculative that Odom's and Bynum's ejections will seriously dent their standing on the team."