Star on the bench, a champions tradition

A lot has been made about the idea of Lamar Odom coming off the bench for the Lakers next season. Most have received the idea positively, but a few have taken it as a bad thing, yet another blemish on Odom's desire to win, a lack of heart. We've all read the reason for putting down this idea, "He gets paid too much to come off the bench", "The best should demand to start", "He can't handle the pressure". What many critics fail to see is that champions have always had that "should be" starter coming off the bench. Many like to refer to Manu Ginobili, but it goes deeper than that.
Lets get Manu out of the way. Manu has been the 3rd highest paid player on the Spurs while playing around 28-30 mpg during this stretch. Its resulted in multiple rings. There's also Toni Kukoc who was consistenly one of the highest paid players on the Bulls, 2nd and 3rd at times. He was arguably the Bulls 4th best player, yet he came off the bench for huge team success. The Lakers themselves had their own version with Michael Cooper. He was making the most money on the team for a bit, winning a Defensive Player of the Year award, yet he was coming off the bench on the way to NBA glory.
This isn't to say that Odom is going to have the same success, especially after being a starter his entire career. This does, however, show that willingness to come off the bench is not a sign of weakness, some of the very best have done it for the benefit of the team. Being one of the highest paid players on the team is not a legitimate reason, look at where those players ranked on their specific teams. For all the heat he takes for his decision making, Odom is displaying a champions mindset. In a way, he's challenging his teammates. Letting them know that everyone needs to buy into the effort it will take, everyone is going to be needed. Hopefully Trevor, Luke, and Vlad are listening.