Former Laker Lamar Odom Joins BIG3's 2019 Draft Pool
Former Lakers forward and two-time NBA champion Lamar Odom has signed to the BIG3 2019 draft pool, the league announced on Thursday.
Odom, who played 14 seasons in the NBA, joins former Lakers teammate Steve Blake, former NBA first-round pick Royce White and Will Bynum as the latest to enter the draft pool. Last week, Kendrick Perkins, Shannon Brown and Daniel Gibson signed to play in the BIG3.
BIG3 is a 3-on-3 basketball league featuring mostly retired NBA players. The league was created by rapper Ice Cube and entertainment executive Jeff Kwatinetz in 2017. On Jan. 11, the league announced it would expand to 12 teams for the upcoming season. The age of eligibility was also reduced to 27 years old, with players still required to have regular season NBA or professional international basketball experience.
BIG3 will now play games two nights per week in 18 cities over the course of the 2019 season.
Odom was the fourth-overall pick by the Los Angeles Clippers in 1999 and made the NBA All-Rookie team that season. He joined the Lakers in 2004 and won back to back NBA Championships in 2009 and 2010 before being named the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year in 2011.
Odom, 39, last played professionally with the Clippers in 2013. He ended his career with an average of 13.3 points, 8.4 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game. In October 2015, Odom was rushed to the hospital after being found unconscious in a Nevada brothel. Near death, he spent four days in a coma and suffered 12 strokes and six heart attacks. Upon his recovery, Odom completed a 30-day drug rehab program.
Odom is currently competing in the Dubai International Basketball Championship to prepare for the BIG3 draft.
