Former NBA cager Lamar Odom to play for PH team in Dubai tournament

This might be the most WTF sports news of the day.

Former National Basketball Association (NBA) player Lamar Odom announced today that he’s going to play for a Philippine team at the Dubai Basketball International Tournament in February next year.

Odom posted the announcement on his Instagram account, which had a photo of him wearing a Mighty Sports jersey that comes with a Philippine flag. He would be wearing number 7 for the tournament, the same number he used when playing for his former NBA teams.

He wrote: “I’d like to announce that I will be playing in The Dubai International Basketball Championship this February 1st 2019 !!!!!!!”

 

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I’d like to announce that I will be playing in The Dubai International Basketball Championship this February 1st 2019 !!!!!!! 🏀I will be representing team @mightysports_ph from the Philippines with my 4ever #7 ! To me this is a great warming up for the @thebig3 !! It’s been a minute since I’ve professionally competed and I hope to be as explosive as I used to be! I was hoping to be ready for the Chinese CBA earlier this year but I didn’t feel that I was physically were I wanted to be. ( yet) I needed more time to recover from my multiple strokes and hearts attacks. Im not giving up and going in full force !! Patience and moving FORWARD is KEY! Special thanks to @femaleagentsr @charlestiu for making me part of this amazing tournament in Dubai! #teamreyes ! This wouldn’t be possible without the support of my kids, @destiny_odom @lamar.morales.odom, MY FANS, my team @jared_dyem @bryantaustin23 @xpesports @billythakid23 @m2exec @showtimepersonaldevelopment @willvlo @therealyasin @ninetyplusofficial @mr2rchiang @chaselucid @saamzangenehlaw @hemplucid ! Thanks @iamzoul for building the road to my comeback life chapter ! LETSGOO 💪🏿#newpages #2019 #dubai #manila #basketball

A post shared by Lamar Odom (@lamarodom) on Dec 18, 2018 at 12:19pm PST

Odom said his participation is his warm-up for the Big 3, the professional 3-on-3 basketball league.

He added that he was going to play for the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) next year but his performance wasn’t up to par yet.

“I was hoping to be ready for the Chinese CBA earlier this year but I didn’t feel that I was physically were (sic) I wanted to be (yet). I needed more time to recover from my multiple strokes and hearts attacks. Im (sic) not giving up and [I’m] going in full force !! Patience and moving FORWARD is KEY!” he added.

Odom’s participation was confirmed by Mighty Sports coach Charles Tiu, who said in an Instagram post that it was “an honor” for him to play for the team.

Odom previously played for the Los Angeles Lakers and the Dallas Mavericks, among other NBA teams.

He is the ex-husband of reality TV star Khloé Kardashian and starred alongside her in the show Khloé and Lamar.

His life and career suffered multiple setbacks, including the time when he was hospitalized after being found unconscious inside a brothel in a town in Nevada in 2015.

Odom is American and doesn’t have a single drop of Filipino blood. However, he’s not the first non-Filipino and former NBA star to play for Mighty Sports.

In 2017, former Golden State Warriors player Hasheem Thabeet, who hails from Tanzania, played for the team in the same tournament.

The Dubai Basketball International Tournament is organized by the United Arab Emirates Basketball Association which according to its website is now one of the “strongest” tournaments in the Middle East. Arab and international teams participate in the event.

Odom could expect to see a lot of basketball-crazy Filipinos cheering for him as Dubai has one of the highest numbers of overseas Filipino workers in the world.