For Lamar Odom, basketball remains in his blood. Although the former NBA player has had a tumultuous couple of years that included dealing with life-threatening episodes back in 2015. Being the fighter that he is, the two-time NBA champion plans to show the basketball world that he still has the hops.
According to Manila Bulletin Sports, the 39-year-old forward from Queens, New York will be joining local team Mighty-PH that will see action at a tournament slated to happen in February 2019. Odom created quite a fuss in the Philippines after announcing everything on his Instagram account.
“I am getting back to the game I love, I have not played in years but I feel very good I have been working out every day to get my strength and conditioning back and hopefully this tournament help me more for my come back,” said Odom in that exclusive interview with Ernest Hernandez of the the Manila Bulletin Sports Online team.
It remains to be seen what condition Odom is in although it seems that he will be in good company. Apparently, his agent, Ms. Sheryl Reyes, will be adding more reinforcements to the team that will already be comprised of the top local cagers in the country. Reyes is credited for bringing in top cagers from the globe, a list that includes the likes of Justin Brownlee, Marcus Douthit, Dominic McGuire, and Hasheem Thabeet.
Odom’s stint with Mighty-PH will run from Feb. 1 to 9, 2019. For now, it remains to be seen what Odom plans to do next. However, Reyes also mentioned that she may offer the services of the 6-foot-10 player to the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) as reinforcement in one of the conferences next year.
“If everything ends well, remember he is 6-foot-10”, I may bring him to the PBA,” said Reyes.
At 39, it will be interesting if Odom can still keep up with the rising local players and other reinforcements other teams will be hiring. In the past, the likes of Cedric Ceballos, Al Thornton, Kevin Porter, Mitchell Wiggins, Henry Walker, and Renaldo Balkman had their respective stints – each ending up with different endings.
Ironically, Reyes also handles Walker and Balkman, two imports who were able to hit it well in the local cage league. Odom is likely to do the same.
Finally, Reyes may be bringing in at least two more former NBA stars to the Philippines. The name of Carlos Boozer has been mentioned while the other name has yet to be revealed.
