Luke Walton: Lamar Odom coaching Lakers not close to happening
Lamar Odom is out of rehab and reportedly doing much better. There even is some talk about him potentially helping the Lakers as a coach.
TMZ Sports caught up with Odom this week and asked whether the former Sixth Man of the Year had interest in coaching the Lakers. He said he did.
In fact, first-year Lakers head coach Luke Walton confirmed on Tuesday that he and Odom had spoken about a job, although that wasn’t recently. Walton, who was teammates with Odom on the Lakers, understandably wants to make sure Odom is doing well in his recovery first.
Luke Walton confirmed Lamar Odom reached out to him about helping staff. Luke sounded interested but understandably mindful of his recovery
— Mark Medina (@MarkG_Medina) January 11, 2017
Walton did speak positively about Odom:
Lamar Odom has talked to Luke Walton about coaching, but that's not anywhere close to happening I'm told. Walton does love Odom though. pic.twitter.com/At01Apg4Rx
— Tania Ganguli (@taniaganguli) January 11, 2017
As great of an idea as this would be, Odom would need to show a lot of responsibility and prove his sobriety before he really could be considered as a potential staff member for the Lakers. During his stint with the Dallas Mavericks in 2011-2012, Odom was said to be heavily using drugs, which is something the Lakers could not have on the team. Maybe the chance of joining the Lakers could give Odom some motivation to be sober.