Here’s one of the distinguishing characteristics of the economic downturn (aka the Big, Bad Recession) that we’ve been slogging through this year: A lot of people are getting paid less than they were before.

If you are out of work, it is more than likely that you will get paid less if and when you finally land a job. If you have been lucky enough to manage to hold on to your current employment, chances are pretty good that you have seen your pay get dinged and reduced through a salary freeze, a pay cut or maybe an unpaid furlough (or some combination of the three).

Lots and lots of Americans are dealing with this, even those who have historically made a lot of money—such as performers and professional athletes. It’s hard to feel sorry for them because, in most cases, whatever salary they are getting still ends up with “millions” on the end.

Yes, it’s hard to feel sorry for well-paid people who are still pretty well-paid, and that’s why it’s hard out here in Southern California to feel a lot of sympathy for professional basketball star Lamar Odom of the NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers.

Odom was one of the main cogs in the Lakers’ championship run this season, but he is a victim of unfortunate timing because he is also a free agent and is having to negotiate a new deal in the midst of a terrible economy that has hammered the pay of everyone—including star athletes who just helped their team win a championship.

The Los Angeles Times has reported that “Odom and his agent, Jeff Schwartz, are seeking $10 million a season. The Lakers have offered Odom a deal north of $9 million a season for the first three years.” Odom is coming off a five-year, $65-million contract he signed with Miami in 2003, a year before he was traded to the Lakers in a deal involving Shaquille O’Neal.

According to ESPN.com, “Odom acknowledges he’s in the middle of a balancing act. There’s an argument for trying to get the most money possible. ‘You take a business man, anyone with a business mind, and they want the most money possible,’ he says. He points out that he’s 29 and needs to secure his ‘legacy as a basketball player, and a business man.’ ”

The word is that Odom and his agent are not budging from the $10 million-a-year figure, but the stalemate is wearing thin on the Lakers. The Times speculates that “Lakers owner Jerry Buss, who improved on his offer of $8 million a season to Odom, is getting frustrated [by the lengthy negotiations] and is thinking about pulling the deal off the table soon.”

Part of the problem is that the Lakers are over the NBA salary cap and have to pay a dollar-for-dollar penalty for every additional dollar they pay out to players next season.

So, paying Odom $10 million costs the Lakers a cool $20 million in the final accounting.

It’s hard to feel sorry for a guy who just was paid $65 million for five years’ work quibbling about making $9 million instead of $10 million. It’s also hard to feel sorry for a guy who is in a great job situation—the Lakers are a championship-caliber team with or without Odom—who seems willing to throw that away because he isn’t willing to take 10 percent less than he believes he should get paid.

But, that’s what makes this recession so difficult. Most everyone—from the guy getting paid a modest hourly wage to a high-salaried professional athlete—are being asked to suck it up and take less.

And as my blogging colleague Ann Bares of Compensation Force points out, “As was true with its predecessors, the consequences of this recession and the actions it has prompted by employers will be with us long into the future … and in ways we may not appreciate for some time to come.”

That’s the case no matter who you are—even if your name is Lamar Odom.

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