Lamar Odom was a guest of Los Angeles Lakers head coach Luke Walton’s at the team’s pre-draft workouts this week, and the former NBA star is hoping he is invited back in a more permanent role.
According to Mark Medina of the LA Daily News, Odom said he would still like to land an assistant coaching job with the Lakers. For now, the team is only saying that Odom was a welcome guest at two days of workouts.
All indications have been that Odom is doing much better since he left rehab. Walton confirmed back in January that he had spoken to Odom about a job, but he said nothing was close to coming together. It’s unclear if any progress has been made on that front in the past five months or so.
Even if Odom does have his life on track, hiring him obviously would not come without risk. Though he is beloved by most Lakers fans, Odom’s long history with drug and alcohol abuse is well-documented. Walton and the Lakers would have to be very confident he has turned a corner in order to offer him a job.
