Another dig

If Phil Jackson was going to be gun-shy about offending Lamar Odom after the minor flap that erupted earlier this week from his admission that Odom could come off the bench this year, it certainly didn't seem so on Thursday.

Jackson was asked how his other experiment with Odom, the one in which Odom handles the ball as a point-forward, is going, and took it as an opportunity to comment on Odom's conditioning.

``It's OK. Lamar's not in shape. Lamar's not ready to play,'' Jackson said.

Earlier in the week, Odom had said that he didn't do much during the offseason, preferring instead to relax and give the tendinitis in his knees time to heal.

Was that a good idea?

``He has to find that out for himself,'' Jackson said. ``In our exit meetings with Lamar, he said he hasn't had an opportunity to work on his body for three or four years. This was a chance for him ...''