Lamar Odom and Mavs owner Mark Cuban had an argument during halftime Saturday

More details are emerging as to what the proverbial “straw” that broke the camel’s back was that caused the Dallas Mavericks and Lamar Odom to part ways. According to ESPN Dallas, Odom and Mavs owner Mark Cuban got into a heated exchange during halftime of the Mavs vs. Grizzlies game in Memphis Saturday night.

the crux of the heated halftime confrontation was Cuban asking Odom if he was “in or out.” Sources said Odom, who had played only four minutes in the first half, reacted angrily to the question and did not take his seat on the bench until after the third quarter began.

My question is for Mark Cuban, did it really take you all this time to ask that question? Did the staff somehow forget to research Odom’s history and how off-kilter he gets when he’s not mentally focused? And from the moment of the trade LO was tearing up in interviews, his demeanor and actions showed he was unhappy. Was it really that hard to see that Lamar wasn’t fully vested with the Mavs?

Donnie Nelson, President of basketball operations with the Mavs had this to say about LO’s time with the team:

Nelson compared counting on Odom while the Mavs fight for a playoff berth to “going to war with wet gunpowder.”

“We’re in our playoff time right here,” Nelson said. “We need to win games. We got to be able to look down that bench and count on folks to be consistent. Unfortunately with him in his state right now he’s just not capable of doing that.”