Famous sportsman to join Philippine team in Dubai tournament

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Famous sportsman to join Philippine team in Dubai tournament

Dubai - His team will be facing top teams in the Middle East.

By Web Report

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Published: Fri 21 Dec 2018, 5:48 PM

Former National Basketball Association (NBA) player Lamar Odom announced his return to professional basketball at the Dubai International Basketball Championship to be held in February next year.
Odom took to Instagram and wrote that he will be playing for the Philippine basketball team in the tournament scheduled from February 1 to February 9, 2019. Odom wrote on Instagram: 'I'd like to announce that I will be playing in The Dubai International Championship this February 1st 2019. I will be representing team [Mighty Sports] from the Philippines with my 4ever #7'.
This will be the second time the Philippine team will be participating in the tournament where they will be facing top basketball teams in the Middle East. The team will be headed by basketball coach and expert Charles Tiu, reported The Filipino Times.
This will be the first time that Odom, 39, will hit the court since undergoing a major health crisis in 2015 and subsequently battling substance addiction. The last time he played professionally was in 2013 for the Los Angeles Clippers, reported People.
Referencing professional 3v3 basketball league featuring mostly retired NBA players, Odom further wrote in his post: 'To me this is a great warming up for the @thebig3 !!" It's been a minute since I've professionally competed and I hope to be as explosive as I used to be'!

 
 
 
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A post shared by Lamar Odom (@lamarodom) on
He also explained that his return to professional basketball came later than expected due to his past medical crises, which included being in a coma for several days where he also experienced 12 strokes and six heart attacks. 'I was hoping to be ready for the CBA [Chinese Basketball Association] earlier this year but I didn't feel that I was physically where I wanted to be. I needed more time to recover from my multiple strokes and heart attacks', he further wrote.
Odom, who held two championships with the Los Angeles Lakers alongside basketball legend Kobe Bryant, added that he hopes to bring the same level of performance as his previous NBA stint.


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