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Charles McDermid

Lamar Odom, two-time NBA champion and former member of the Kardashian family, recently launched his latest comeback bid in the Philippines, where he won over diehard basketball fans, earned the praise of a prominent coach – and found time to launch a “vape pen” along the way.
The 39-year-old former Los Angeles Laker had a near-fatal drug overdose at a legal brothel in Nevada in 2015, suffering 12 strokes and six heart attacks. He calls himself a “walking miracle” for surviving the ordeal.

Last month, the ex-husband of Khloe Kardashian arrived in Manila to join the Mighty Sports Philippines, a semi-professional travelling team sponsored by a local sportswear company.
“Considering his age and what he’s been through, it’s amazing that he can even still do what he’s doing,” said Charles Tiu, 30, the team’s coach. “Everywhere we went fans were excited to see and meet him. People everywhere wanted photos. I’m really happy for him.”
Odom played for the team at last weekend’s Dubai International Basketball Championship, cheered on by a crowd of Filipinos – local media reports estimate that 450,000 live in the United Arab Emirates.

Renaldo Balkman muscles his way through! #ABL9 pic.twitter.com/IApdU8U1Ej
— ABS-CBN Sports (@abscbnsports) February 13, 2019

The love for NBA stars runs deep in the Philippines – the biggest name now in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) is Renaldo Balkman, a former first-round draft pick of the New York Knicks. Another NBA alumnus, DerMarr Johnson, played for the PBA’s Barako Bull Energy squad in 2012, and Cedric Ceballos, a one-time NBA all-star, made a stir for the San Miguel Beermen in 2003-2004.
Polo Bustamante, an editor for the Philippine affiliate of basketball magazine Slam, said local fans remember 2011, when NBA superstars like Kobe Bryant, Chris Paul, Kevin Durant and James Harden came to Manila to play the PBA All-Stars and the national team. “That was one of the biggest moments in Philippine basketball,” Bustamante said.
The Rappler news website, which has an entire page devoted to Odom, reported that the 208cm-tall star was “mobbed by fans at the airport” before heading to a team practice to prepare for the 10-team tournament in Dubai.


“It’s big news to have a championship calibre player like Lamar Odom represent the country. His entire stay in the Philippines had heavy coverage from the media,” said Bustamante.
In a feature story on February 4 about Odom’s visit to a Manila shoe store, a Slam reporter described him as “Grounded. Reserved. Gritty” and “courageous enough to take one more shot at playing competitive basketball, even if it’s thousands of miles away from where he used to be.”
The adulation also came with a heavy dose of doubt, however. “Naturally, fans were curious how good Odom still is,” said Bustamante. “Especially after being away from the game for a few years.”
FORMER STAR
This concern wasn’t lost on Odom, who last played in Spain in 2014. He gave typically frank remarks to the Philippine press. “I know everyone here knows my story. I was knocking on death’s doorstep, so to just have the opportunity to play basketball is a win-win,” he said. “This is my first time in the Philippines and the Filipino people have been very welcoming. And if it goes [well] here, I can see myself maybe playing basketball here.”
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Odom played in the NBA for 14 years, winning titles with the Lakers in 2009 and 2010, and earning the Sixth Man of the Year Award in 2011 – for being the league’s best-performing player coming off the bench. He posted on social media that after Mighty Sports, he would compete in the BIG3, a 3-on-3 professional league featuring retired NBA players. He had also planned to play in the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) in 2019 though he later pulled out, saying he was out of shape.

Since the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, less well-known NBA players or those looking to prolong their careers have considered the CBA a viable option, according to sports news website ESPN.
Odom, who married Kardashian in 2009 and appeared on reality TV series with her, was known to have drug problems. He credits cannabidiol (CBD), an extract of cannabis, with having saved his life after his near-death experience in October 2015 at Nevada’s Love Ranch brothel, where he spent four days and US$75,000. This week, he launched his own line of CBD vaporisers, also known as vape pens.
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Supporters like Paul Kennedy Lintag, a sports reporter at ABS-CBN, the Philippines’ largest news media outlet, are holding out hope for Odom’s comeback.
“I could be a little biased towards Lamar because I’m a Lakers fan,” Lintag said, “but just knowing his story and his near-death experience, you can’t help but to root for him to truly bounce back.”
‘HAPPY FOR HIM’
There is much goodwill for Odom, even if his statistics do not exactly match up. In his first competitive game in five years, he scored four points, seven rebounds and two assists in a rout of American University in Dubai. But, as ESPN reported, “his lefty lay-up off a blow-by move in the second half received the biggest ovation from the huge Filipino crowd.”
Tiu, the coach of Mighty Sports who began working as an assistant for the Philippine national team when he was 22, said that Odom worked hard every day and never complained. Tiu is an analyst for CNN Philippines who also coaches Go For Gold, last year’s champions of the PBA Developmental League.

“Lamar Odom was great. I never got a single attitude issue from him. He was always just one of the guys, trying to make his comeback, and I truly appreciated that,” said Tiu, whose brother is a former star of the Philippine national team.
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“I do wish he was able to help our team a little bit more on the court, but we have to put things in perspective. This guy had how many strokes and heart attacks? He was in a coma for three days, couldn’t talk or walk for weeks, and yet here he is playing basketball again.”
Odom saved his best game for last: racking up eight points, five rebounds, two assists and a block in a third-place victory over Homenetmen of Lebanon on February 9. The Filipino crowd roared every time he touched the ball, according to Rappler, and Tiu called him “an inspiration.”

Mighty Sports has no new tournaments on the horizon, so Odom’s services are in limbo for the moment, Tiu said. But he has not ruled out working with the ex-Laker in the future. “We will see where he ends up next. He may be playing in the Big3, so we will see how that goes and see what the future holds.”
For Bustamante, the Slam editor, the Philippine stage of Odom’s comeback was something of a surprise for everyone. “When Lamar was here, it genuinely looked like he was taken aback at just how much [our] country loves basketball, and how much the fans embraced him,” he said.


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The Philippines

Fallen NBA star Lamar Odom’s post-Kardashian Philippine rebound

Lamar Odom in 2011. Photo: Los Angeles Times/TNS

Los Angeles Lakers forward Lamar Odom, right, drives past Toronto Raptors forward Chris Bosh during first-half NBA basketball game action in Toronto on Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2009. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press,Nathan Denette)

(FILES) Lamar Odom and Khloe Kardashian-Odom pose on arrival for the 19th Annual Race to Erase MS themed "Glam Rock to Erase MS" in Los Angeles in this May 18, 2012, file photo. Odom, a former NBA champion who gained wider fame as the husband of reality TV star Khloe Kardashian was in hospital after being found "unresponsive" at a Nevada brothel, authorities said on October 13, 2015. The Nye County Sheriff's Department was called Tuesday afternoon to Love Ranch, a legal brothel in Crystal, Nevada, for a report of an "unresponsive" man needing an ambulance, Sheriff Sharon A. Wehrly said in a statement. AFP PHOTO/Frederic J. BROWN/FILES

Photo: AP

A sign advertises the Love Ranch brothel, Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2015 in Crystal, Nev., were former NBA basketball player Lamar Odom was found unconscious the day before. Odom, the NBA star and reality TV personality embraced by teammates and fans for his humble approach to fame, was on life support Wednesday, his estranged wife Khloe Kardashian by his side. Odom was found unresponsive after four days at the brothel (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Fireworks explode over the National Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest, during a rehearsal of the opening ceremony for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. 02Aug08

Kardashian-ex Lamar Odom ‘took cocaine and sex pills’ before collapse at Love Ranch brothel

Lamar Odom is fighting for his life in hospital. Photo: TNS

A sign points the way to the Love Ranch. Photo: TNS

Lawanna, shift manager at the Love Ranch, stands in the bedroom where NBA star Lamar Odom was found unconscious. Photo: TNS


Lamar Odom with his now-estranged wife, Khloe Kardashian. Photo: AFP

Richard Hunter, media director for Dennis Hof, who owns the Love Ranch. Photo: AP

The Rev Jesse Jackson addresses the media on Lamar Odom's condition. Photo: Reuters

Khloe Kardashian stands by as Lamar Odom regains consciousness after sex-drug brothel collapse

Khloe Kardashian and Lamar Odom. Photo: AP

The entrance to the Love Ranch brothel outside Las Vegas. Photo: AP

Lamar Odom out of hospital as he makes ‘miraculous’ recovery

Lamar Odom and Khloe Kardashian. Photo: AP

Lamar Odom and Kobe Bryant during their Lakers days. Photo: AP

Lamar Odom, former NBA star and Kardashian clan member, returning to basketball in China after 2013 retirement

Lamar Odom answering questions about the Los Angeles Lakers season in 2010. Photo: TNS

Love rekindled? Lamar Odom and Khloe Kardashian halt divorce action in wake of brothel drama

Divorce proceedings between Lamar Odom and Khloe Kardashian began in 2013. Photo: Reuters

The couple can reinstitute the divorce proceedings at any stage. Photo: AP

This Week in Asia

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Four years ago, he was found comatose in a brothel from a near-fatal drug overdose. Now he’s playing for the Mighty Sports Philippines travelling team


Four years ago, he was found comatose from a near-fatal drug overdose in a Nevada brothel. Now he’s playing for the Mighty Sports Philippines travelling team.


NBA (National Basketball Association)

Drugs

Fallen NBA star Lamar Odom’s post-Kardashian Philippine rebound

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;}Four years ago, he was found comatose in a brothel from a near-fatal drug overdose. Now he’s playing for the Mighty Sports Philippines travelling team

Four years ago, he was found comatose in a brothel from a near-fatal drug overdose. Now he’s playing for the Mighty Sports Philippines travelling team