Lamar Odom held back a little when recently speaking about the Phoenix Suns mascot, which is a gorilla.
Odom, who played for the Miami Heat in 2003-04, said the mascot has racial overtones. Gorillas have typically been associated as a derogatory term for blacks.
Odom, once married to Khloe Kardashian, made the comments on an appearance on the Bootleg Kev podcast.
“Come on, bro,” Odom said. “The thing that’s funny is they kind of slid that one by for all these years. Nobody says anything about that.”
Odom said the mascot has nothing to do with the team nickname.
“Gorillas in the desert, you can’t find any,” said Odom, who was involved in the trade that brought Shaquille O’Neal to Miami in 2004. “You could probably find a cactus. … Just like, come on. But you know what’s so, really crazy about it? They just tried it because they wanted to get the fans involved, and that’s the reason why they kept it — ’cause the fans loved it.”
The Suns were recently in the news after former owner Robert Sarver stepped down amid an investigation that determined he made racial and inappropriate comments in the workplace.
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Shandel Richardson covers the Miami Heat for Inside The Heat.
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