Getty Image
If you’ve seen Broke or watched Stephon Marbury drowning his sorrows by eating out of a jar of Vaseline then you’re probably well aware just how quickly professional athletes can manage to lose everything (including their minds). However, I can’t think of anyone not named “Len Bias” who saw a bigger fall from grace than Lamar Odom, whose world came crashing down faster than Maverick and Goose’s plane in Top Gun a few years back.
Odom basically had it all about a decade ago when he tied the knot with Khloe Kardashian in the midst of winning back-to-back championships with the Lakers. However, things eventually went south when he began to struggle with a substance abuse problem that eventually culminated in him overdosing on cocaine while at a brothel, which I think most people would say is a pretty bad look.
Odom has been open about his struggles with addiction since his brush with death, and while the incident put the nail in the coffin containing his NBA career, it looks like he’s finally nearing the end of his road to recovery. On Tuesday, he revealed he’s reached a point where he’s ready to return to basketball by announcing he’ll be following in the footsteps of Jimmer Fredette and Tyler Hansborough by taking his talents to China.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BlsfliohUOH/?hl=en&taken-by=lamarodom
This won’t be the first time Odom plays abroad as he had a brief stint with a Spanish team in 2014 before coming back to the U.S. after suffering a back injury. As a result, I’m a bit skeptical that returning from a three-year hiatus at 38 years old is the best move, but it’s still awesome to see how far he’s come since reaching rock bottom.