It has been a long and winding road for Lamar Odom over the last few years since he saw his NBA career come to an abrupt end due to off-the-court issues.
There have been a few personal struggles along the way, but it appears Odom is attempting to position himself for a coaching role with the Los Angeles Lakers, according to Mark Medina of the Orange County Register.
Tuesday’s gathering resembled a near reunion of the Lakers’ NBA title teams in 2009 and 2010. After the workout ended, Lakers coach Luke Walton huddled with associate coach Brian Shaw and former forward Lamar Odom.
Does that mean Odom will join Walton’s coaching staff? Odom said he hopes so, but the Lakers said Walton has simply invited Odom to observe the past two days of workouts. Nonetheless, Walton expressed openness last season about Odom helping the Lakers in some capacity.
Although Odom isn't rekindling his NBA career, it still keeps him involved with the league. This could be a much bigger personal lift for the former Sixth Man of the Year by providing him something stable in his life.
Near the tail end of the regular season, Walton did suggest that Odom could be utilized in a coaching capacity down the road. Los Angeles is already looking to enlist the help of other former greats such as Kobe Bryant and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar over the offseason.
Nonetheless, the presence of Odom could help the development of the Lakers' young core leading into next season. It could be beneficial to both forwards Julius Randle and Brandon Ingram — especially for Randle, who has drawn some comparisons to Odom.
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