Odom, Rider Suspended

By TIM BROWN

March 8, 2001 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

Clipper forward Lamar Odom and Laker guard Isaiah “J.R.” Rider each were suspended five games without pay for violations of the NBA’s anti-drug program, the league announced Wednesday.

Odom, 21, and a significant player and leader for an embattled organization, tested positive for marijuana and then failed to comply with the league-mandated after-care program, sources said.

Rider, whose career is marred by run-ins with team and law enforcement officials, also was punished for noncompliance.

For several years, the league has been tainted by accusations of widespread drug use, most recently by its own, Toronto Raptor forward Charles Oakley. But, aside from the occasional arrest for marijuana possession, there had been little corroboration.

The suspensions announced Wednesday might be only the beginning. One source said at least several more penalties, and probably many more, could be handed down in the coming days. According to the Collective Bargaining Agreement, the league is forbidden from disclosing punishments that do not include a suspension.

Rider continues to pay for an incident from last season in Orlando, Fla., where, as a member of the Atlanta Hawks, he was accused by hotel security of marijuana use. The league has attempted to enroll him into its after-care program since, and found resistance.

He was plucked out of a team meeting Wednesday morning to take a telephone call from a league official, who notified him of the suspension as a result of his noncompliance. Still, Rider is expected to practice with the team and pose for the official team picture today.

Rider’s violation is in his failure to comply with the NBA and players’ association after-care policy, which stems from his inability to complete, sign and return the required paperwork to begin the program.

Rider, who according to several sources has never tested positive for drugs, had requested that parts of the agreement be altered, particularly in regard to where the drug tests would occur. In the process of attempting to negotiate those changes, several deadlines over several months were missed, the last Tuesday. Rider apparently sent the paperwork Wednesday, too late for the league, which issued one of its strongest penalties in an effort to have Rider simply sign and mail the document.

“He has been attempting to comply and to get this behind him as quickly as possible,” Rider’s agent, Arn Tellem, said in a statement Wednesday. “He’d like to return to the club and make a positive contribution the rest of the season.”

The Lakers appear willing to mull Rider’s fate, at least in the short term, rather than to knee-jerk waive him.

Unlike Odom, who is a rising young player considered integral to the Clippers’ future, Rider has become an NBA nomad, possessing more peripheral baggage than he does offensive skills, and is not essential to the Lakers. The Lakers’ relationship with him extends only as far as the soundness of their backcourt; that is, if the Lakers do not waive him, it is because they need insurance in the event Kobe Bryant, Ron Harper or Derek Fisher are not physically ready for the playoffs.

Laker General Manager Mitch Kupchak, reached in Nashville, where he is attending the Southeastern Conference basketball tournament, would not comment.

Coach Phil Jackson said he knew few of the details behind Rider’s suspension, but intended to discuss them with him today.

“It doesn’t endear Isaiah to us, obviously,” he said. “This is part of his responsibility. This is what we’re working with. I’m sure Isaiah’s got a reason, an excuse. He usually does have a lengthy or a reasonable excuse. I’ll have to listen to that [today] before I pass any judgment.

“I have to at least be open-minded enough to listen to what he has to say about what’s going on and hear him out.”

Rider, who turns 30 on Monday, averaged 8.1 points in 58 games for the Lakers. Kupchak admitted he was taking a risk when he signed Rider for only $548,500 this summer, and the enigmatic Rider has lived up to his reputation for tardiness and impulsiveness.

Asked how Rider’s teammates would take the suspension, Jackson said: “They’re curious. But I don’t think any of them are surprised.”

Said Horace Grant: “We really don’t need it right now.”

Odom may return March 20 against Philadelphia. Rider is eligible to return March 16 in Washington. In the meantime, the players may practice and take part in team activities but are not allowed in the arena during the games.

Like Rider, Odom is no stranger to off-court controversy. However, this is the first time he has had to deal with such a punishment.

Odom attended the team’s practice Wednesday morning but didn’t get a chance to finish before he received news of his suspension. Odom talked briefly with Coach Alvin Gentry before leaving.

“We talked, but I’m not sure that he knows all of the details,” Gentry said. “I’m sure he’s upset emotionally right now.”

Before the season began, Odom said he would take responsibility for any trouble he got into after being linked to several scandals early in his career:

* As a New York City prep standout, Odom was questioned about his academics, when he attended three schools in his senior year alone.

* In college, Odom sat out a year and a semester because the NCAA questioned his qualifying test scores.

* After playing one season at Rhode Island, Odom made news when he hired representation and made himself eligible for the NBA draft, then tried to rescind that announcement and re-enroll at Rhode Island.

* Before being selected fourth overall by the Clippers in 1999, Odom fired his first agent and then mystified teams holding the top picks by declining offers to work out and blowing off scheduled appointments.

“All of the stuff that had been written about me came at the beginning stage of my career,” Odom told The Times last October. “Although it hasn’t been that long, I think I’ve matured the last two years.

“I went to college for a year and got a chance to get a taste of how it is to be under the spotlight. Then I had a year playing in the NBA. Also having a child and being a father. All of that has helped me mature over the last couple of years. I’m a man now.

“The only way a person can write a story on me now is if I make it happen whether it is negative or positive. A couple of years ago, the people I was dealing with, I think I was paying for some of their mistakes. If something happens now, it is because of me.”

And it has. Although the NBA is not allowed to disclose information about the testing or treatment of any player in the drug program, league sources have said he tested positive for marijuana.

“The NBA’s drug policy is completely supervised by the league. Lamar’s top priority right now has got to be to fulfill whatever is required of him under this program, and then go from there,” Elgin Baylor, Clipper vice president of basketball operations, said in a statement.

“Our organization will be fully supportive of the positive choices he makes in going forward. He will have resources to help him and there will be many people willing to talk to him and guide him through this. He can--if he chooses--use this as a learning experience, and come out better as a result. We will be there for him, but it is ultimately up to him.”

Odom is averaging a team-high 17.1 points and 7.7 rebounds a game.

“Lamar has made unbelievable strides in everything he has done this year,” Gentry said. “People have to understand it was a mistake and I know everyone in the organization is going to do everything they can to help him. And not because he’s the best player on the team but because he is a tremendous person.”

Neither Odom nor Rider can be replaced on the active roster, leaving each team a player short.

Staff Writer Lonnie White contributed to this story.