One of the most talented and unique players the NBA has ever seen is Lamar Odom. A 6’10 power forward with point guard skills, Odom was a major part of the 2009 and 2010 Los Angeles Lakers championship teams and won Sixth Man of the Year in 2011.
That all came to an end in the 2011 offseason when Odom was a part of the vetoed Chris Paul trade. Odom felt so betrayed by the Lakers deciding to move him that the franchise eventually agreed to trade him to the Dallas Mavericks, but he was never the same.
After some rough times in his life, Odom is doing much better and even made some appearances at pre-draft workouts for the Lakers, next to friend and Lakers head coach Luke Walton. Nonetheless Odom’s basketball career is definitely over and according to Shams Charania of The Vertical, there are plans in place for Odom to sign a contract to retire a Laker:
At some point, Odom will come full circle in Los Angeles, with plans being discussed for him to sign a contract to retire as a Laker in training camp.
Odom would add that it is something his family is looking forward to more than he is:
“My family looks forward to me retiring as a Laker more than me,” Odom told The Vertical. “I’m not really emotional about being praised, about signing for a day. I’m shy at the end of the day. For my son, for my family, for my fans, they may enjoy that day. It’s for them.”
The Lakers doing this for Odom is a great act by the organization as it is great to give credit to players who impacted the organization, even if they weren’t superstars.
Odom also spoke about potentially joining the Lakers coaching staff and while that isn’t in the works just yet, the possibility still remains that Odom could re-join the franchise on a more permanent basis.