Former NBA star Lamar Odom has a job offer to be the next head basketball coach at his New York alma mater, and he’s seriously considering the job. A source familiar with the situation tells TMZ that Odom recently had a conversation with the staff at Redemption Christian Academy in Troy, NY and was offered to be the head coach.
Odom initially contacted the school to inquire about the current head coach. Shortly after, the discussion evolved into the school asking if he would consider taking the head coach position for the upcoming school year. If Odom accepts, he will start in August and coach for four months during the season.
Odom’s connection to the school is personal. He played his senior year at Redemption, where he was named National Player of the Year by Parade Magazine. He averaged 25 points, 17 rebounds, 12 assists, and 5 blocks at Redemption, and he was named a McDonald’s All-American and played in the 1997 Magic Johnson Roundball Classic.
TMZ sources believe that Odom would love a coaching job in California, where he currently lives. Still, he’s seriously considering taking the position at Redemption because of the school’s unique place in his heart. If Odom accepts the job, he would have to move to New York and live there during the season. Odom ultimately wants to coach college basketball in the future, and he also wants to get back in the classroom and earn his BA in business, which would help with his Odom Recovery Group.
TMZ sources say those plans are on hold until Odom decides if he wants to coach at Redemption. The clock’s ticking because Odom only has a few more weeks to give the school an answer. Odom played for the Los Angeles Clippers, Miami Heat, Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks during his 14-year NBA career.
Since the end of his NBA career, Odom’s life has been filled with severe complications due to alcohol and drug use. In 2015, Odom nearly died after being found unconscious at a Nevada brothel due to alcohol and drug use. Odom has maintained he is clean and sober, owing his sobriety to using ketamine in small doses.
“I don’t wake up looking to do lines…or waking up in a dark place or feeling unfulfilled,” Odom said in 2021 on Good Morning America. “When Kobe [Bryant] passed away, you know, the old Lamar, that’d have been every excuse in the world for me to go get high, [but] doing drugs didn’t even enter my mind.”
Now that he’s found fulfillment in his daily life, Odom is ready to return to the basketball limelight. Whatever Odom decides, hopefully, it’ll be the right decision for him.