NBA Veteran Lamar Odom to play for Philippines in Dubai Tournament

December 19, 2018

NBA champion Lamar Odom will play for Mighty Sports Philippines side in the 2019 Dubai International Basketball Tournament scheduled February 1 – 9 next year.

Lamar played in the NBA for 15 seasons, most notably with the Los Angeles Lakers where he won back-to-back championships in 2009 and 2010 alongside Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol and Derek Fisher.

He also played for the United States in the 2004 Olympics and the 2010 Fiba World Championship.

Odom announced he will be playing for Mighty Sports in a post on Instagram, saying that the competition will also be a good warm-up for him when he plays in the Big 3

In a brief chat, head coach Charles Tiu shared his excitement on having Lamar on the team:

“I’m excited to have Lamar on the team. Obviously his game and his career has proven itself already. He’s a winner and a champion. He’s been through a lot lately and wanted to make a comeback and we are excited to be the ones to give him this opportunity.”
– Coach Charles Tiu

The final line-up hasn’t been finalized yet but according to Tiu, the team is planning to bring back crowd-favorite Barangay Ginebra resident import Justin Brownlee and a fast rising collegiate standout player.

Unfortunately, similar to last time, the team won’t have much time to prepare as the imports are expected to arrive about a week before the tournament starts.

“…so same challenges for us; Not enough preparations going up against professional clubs who have been winning and playing together for long.”
– Coach Charles Tiu

This exciting development was first posted by agent Sheryl Reyes on Facebook.

One thing for sure, this team will show the same heart, grit and might the Philippine brand of basketball is known for.