He is the author of The Great Clipper Escape.

Lamar Odom, despite his restricted free agent status, sought out a desired location, bad-mouthed his old team to create some separation, signed a $65 million offer sheet with the Heat and eventually broke free from the Los Angeles Clippers, where frugality rules and hope hardly exists.

Odom successfully escaped to Miami, where he plans on becoming the player, the professional and the man he wants to be.

Odom's previous attempts at escape never ended this well.

''Lamar, in crisis situations, he has a tendency to want to get away and hide,'' said Jerry DeGregorio, Odom's close friend and father figure. ``He just wants to go away and hide and be by himself.''

It's why he ran to a basketball court as a 12-year-old on the day his mother died of cancer. It's why he isolated himself at times during his freshman year at Rhode Island as he struggled with NCAA eligibility issues and couldn't play basketball. It's why he turned to marijuana as a release during his first few seasons in the NBA.

''I was addicted to running away,'' Odom said.