Lamar Odom was ready to start his professional basketball career back up, however, he will have to postpone that dream.
According to reports, the former Lakers star will no longer be playing in the BIG3 League. Per TMZ, Odom is one of four players who the league believes aren’t ready to play just yet. The other players who have been deactivated from the Ice Cube-founded league are Baron Davis, Jermaine O’Neal and Bonzi Wells.
“Odom was nervous about being embarrassed on the court because he wasn’t prepared to compete with his fellow ex-NBA hoopers … and there was little hope it would work out,” reports the site. “As the league stated in the news release … the org wanted to “maximize competition,” so it was an easy decision to part ways with the Lakers champ.”
“You know, as a league we want players that are actually playing,” Ice Cube said to TMZ about the dismissal of the players from the league. The site writes, “[Cube] added that players who aren’t playing or who ‘can’t play’ or have ‘health issues’ that prevent them from playing really don’t have any business being on a BIG3 roster.”
The two-time NBA champ hadn’t played basketball in several years due to health and wellness concerns, brought on after a near-death experience at a Nevada brothel in 2015. He’s reportedly hoping to be back and better than ever to play next year, but there is still no word on whether he will be invited to play again.