Did 'Khloe & Lamar' Destroy the Lakers?

As the Los Angeles Lakers go home to watch the rest of the NBA playoffs on TV after being sweeped by the Dallas Mavericks, fans are turning the blame on Lamar Odom and Khloe Kardashian, wondering if the team's performance was negatively influenced by participation in the reality show "Khloe & Lamar."

Odom previously told the Los Angeles Times that he found the demands of the show so challenging that he almost pulled the plug. "By the third or fourth day, I realized how tough and demanding it was going to be. I was like, 'I don't think I could do this.'"

Odom was reportedly worried about how working on the show would influence his basketball career with the LA Lakers.

"But we worked through it. What I do is, like, usually on a game day, I won't film, because I have to have my mind in a certain place and I have to rest my body. The Lakers, of course, had their concerns when I went into this, but I made the promise to them that I would remain the same player, if not try to get better.""

Odom's reps also reiterated to the LA Times that his only involvement with the reality show during the playoffs was a two-hour interview. Some Odom supporters point to the Lakers' chapionship ways last year, while Odom was dating Kardashian, and that while filming the show this season, Odom was still able to garner the NBA's "Sixth Man Award."

Of course, Odom's playoff stats were comparably bad, and he ended up committing a flagrant foul against Mavericks star Nirk Nowitzki that had fans and announcers using terms like "bush league" and "amateur hour." Scores of Laker fans have been expressing the hopes that Odom gets traded next year.

Khloe Kardashian has seen enough wrath from fans after the playoff sweep that she went on Twitter to respond:

"Its funny that when peps(Lakers) r @ their best so r their 'fans. Reading my timeline, the so called 'fans' seem2b only 'fans' when on top."

Do you think Lamar Odom should have participated in "Khloe & Lamar" during the Lakers' season? Is Khloe to blame for the Lakers' downfall or are Lakers fans just taking out their frustrations on an easy target? Let us know what you think...