DALLAS -- Lamar Odom said it was indeed his idea to play a game in the D-League to knock off some rust after his extended time away from the Mavericks. He said he was even looking forward to it.

"I suggested it because I had time off, didn’t practice, didn’t play, felt like that would be a good way to warm up," Odom said before Monday's game against the Oklahoma City Thunder. "I look at it, I think of the NBA and that’s what it should be there for. A team has the luxury of having it. You see it all the time in minor league baseball. I thought it would be fun. I thought it would be different. It was something that for some strange reason I was looking forward to it."

The Mavs assigned Odom to the Texas Legends on Friday and he was to play in Frisco on Saturday night. But because Odom is also a TV reality star, some of the gossip websites characterized it as a demotion.

"That’s another thing that people probably took the wrong way or whatever way they wanted," Odom said.

The Legends attempted to take advantage of it by marketing Odom on their website. NBA Entertainment was going to be there to film the 13-year veteran's D-League debut.

The second-largest crowd in D-League history showed up for the game, but they didn't get to see Odom after the Mavs decided they needed him for their game against Utah instead.

Odom said he didn't know the Legends had turned him into the marquee attraction.