Lamar Odom is a “walking miracle.” In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, the 39-year-old former NBA player turned team captain for Ice Cube’s Big 3 basketball league, reflected on the near death experience that left him with permanent memory loss.
“My memory is really bad,” Odom admitted to the newspaper. “I can’t remember anything. My short-term memory is really bad. … I wish I could explain it but I can’t. It’s tough and it’s really frustrating. If there’s a poster child for Alzheimer’s, I’m probably it. It’s something I’m scared of. I think I need to go see a doctor at some point and see if I can work on that. It’s scary.”
Odom returned was in Vegas Wednesday (May 1) for the Big 3 draft, but Sin City has a whole new meaning to the native New Yorker. In October 2015, Odom almost died from a drug overdose after being found unconscious in a Las Vegas brothel. Odom suffered 12 strokes, and half a dozen heart attacks while he was comatose.
“I always knew I had a strong will. I think my will is even stronger than I believed it was. It’s a testament that God is good,” he said. “When I woke up [from the coma] and I couldn’t talk or walk I never thought I would be here. I never thought I would play basketball again or talk to you. Just to be here is a win for me.”
Despite the miraculous recovery Odom revealed that he suffered from physical setbacks that have affected his game. “I can’t dribble the basketball the way I used to. That was a gift from God. It was just so natural for me. It was a mismatch for me with my size to be able to put the ball on the floor the way I did,” he said. “I guess God gave me life so he had to take something… I guess he took away some of my natural ability, which came easy to me. Ball handling and dribbling is still an issue but I have a month to work on that before the season starts.”
The Big 3 2019 regular season kicks off on June 22.