Two games into his professional comeback, Lamar Odom is leaving his Spanish team due to a back injury, as first reported by Marc Stein of ESPN. Enea Trapani of Sportando reports that the Baskonia club has terminated Odom’s contract. Odom is returning stateside for at least two months to have his back evaluated and treated. That process would have lasted the duration of his two-month deal, but the team could have extended the deal another two months. While the team hopes to have Odom back, they opted to scrap the current deal and work on re-signing him when the time comes, per Trapani.
Odom told Baskonia’s official website that he is grateful for the short time he played there, and said he wants to return as soon as possible (translation via Trapani). “I want to say thank you. I’m grateful to the fans for their support and understanding. Not only people, but the whole of Vitoria has shown me much appreciation as a person and not just as a basketball player. I would like to thank you for your continued support. I am a bit embarrassed, but at the same time I am proud to say I’m injured and I still have a team that understands and continues to support me,” Odom said. “This means a lot to me and forces me to have a lot of respect.”
While both team and player sound positive about the chances of a reunion, Trapani tweets that he is less optimistic one will occur. Odom had hoped to revive his NBA career, using international play as his first stepping stone back. This is an unfortunate roadblock for Odom, who is trying to overcome a tumultuous stretch in his personal and professional life that has kept the 34-year-old out of the league this year.