It has been more than three years since Lamar Odom nearly lost his life following a drug binge at a brothel in Nevada, and the former NBA star has spoken openly about his struggles with addiction. While he is back to playing basketball and in good physical shape, Odom’s mind is not nearly as sharp as it once was.
In an interview with Arash Markazi of the Los Angeles Times, Odom spoke honestly about the trouble he has remembering things.
“My memory is really bad,” he said. “I can’t remember anything. My short-term memory is really bad. … I wish I could explain it but I can’t.”
Odom admitted he needs to work with doctors to figure out if there’s anything that can be done about his poor memory.
“It’s tough and it’s really frustrating. If there’s a poster child for Alzheimer’s, I’m probably it,” Odom said. “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 had a series of strokes and heart attacks after his overdose, and doctors told him he is lucky to be alive and walking let alone preparing to play in the BIG3 basketball league. From an athletic standpoint, Odom says he “can’t dribble a basketball the way I used to.”
“I guess God gave me life so he had to take something so I guess he took away some of my natural ability, which came easy to me,” he said. “Ball handling and dribbling is still an issue but I have a month to work on that before the season starts.”
Aside from an incredibly bizarre story about a kidnapping, Odom has not made headlines for the wrong reasons in a long time. That seems to be a good indicator that he is keeping his life on track, and he was named a co-captain of the Enemies BIG3 team. While his chances of playing in the NBA again are slim to none, it’s good to see Odom back on the court.
