"As his Dallas Mavericks teammates celebrated a dramatic, 90-85 win over the Celtics inside a dimly lit visitors locker room on Wednesday night, Lamar Odom dressed quietly in the corner.

It has been a difficult year for Odom, from the ugly end of the 2010-11 season with the Lakers, to the murder of his 24-year-old cousin in July, to the death of a 15-year-old pedestrian that was caused when a motorcycle collided with an SUV Odom was a passenger in, to his shocking trade to Dallas, where Odom has struggled, averaging 6.6 points (on 29.5 percent shooting) and 4.7 rebounds through the Mavericks' first 11 games.

Ironically, it was a positive comment from Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle -- "I thought Lamar played with a lot of energy," he said -- that brought a reporter to his locker. When told of Carlisle's comment, Odom shrugged, his head dropping beneath his shoulders.

"I'm trying to," Odom said, his voice trailing off."