DALLAS -- Let's get one thing straight: Lamar Odom did not quit on the Dallas Mavericks. That would have required something resembling commitment from Odom in the first place.

Lamar Odom averaged 6.6 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.7 assists while shooting 35.2 percent during his doomed tenure with the Mavs. AP Photo/Brandon Wade

That's apparently asking too much of a man making a salary of $8.9 million. That's why Odom is free to head back to his beloved Los Angeles to cash Mark Cuban's checks the rest of the season.

The Mavs and Odom are calling it a "mutual decision" to part ways. Of course, all indications were that Odom never wanted to be here in the first place despite whining his way out of L.A. after the Lakers dared to include him in the commissioner-vetoed deal that would have put Chris Paul in purple and gold.

From Cuban on down, the Mavs kept hoping that would change, wishing that a man with a dozen-year track record of being a good NBA player could actually muster enough pride to play hard for the defending NBA champions. They kept on coddling until they finally came to the obvious conclusion that they couldn't count on Odom while fighting for their playoff lives.

"It's like going to war with wet gunpowder," Mavs president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson said.

Yeah, Odom infrequently fired, such as the night that he returned from his bizarre, self-imposed, 10-day midseason sabbatical by actually playing with energy in a win over the Utah Jazz, putting up a nine-point, five-rebound, three-block, three-assist line in 18 minutes and offering false hope that he might return to something close to his Sixth Man of the Year form from last season.

But Odom shot blanks on a regular basis -- as evidenced by his career lows in points (6.6 per game), rebounds (4.2), assists (1.7), shooting percentage (35.2) and effort (minimal) -- and then wondered why the home fans hurt his feelings by booing.