According to Marc Stein of ESPN.com, Dallas Mavericks Forward Lamar Odom had to be talked out of taking a year off by his wife Khloe.
Left reeling by the July murder of his 24-year-old cousin and a fatal car accident days later that killed a teen pedestrian after the car he was riding in as a passenger collided with a motorcycle, Odom told ESPN.com that he had to be convinced by wife Khloe Kardashian to scrap his plans for a hiatus.
“Real close,” Odom said when asked Saturday how close he came to asking the Lakers for a season-long sabbatical.
“My wife talked me out of it.
We learned that Odom is a sensitive dude after his near trade for CP3 (Video: Lamar Odom Crying During Interview With Stephen A. Smith After Almost Trade) that led to him being traded to Dallas, but you cant really blame him if those off the court incidents weighed heavily on him. We sometimes forget these athletes are real guys.
This wasn’t the first time Odom has dealt with personal tragedy.
But Odom, dismissing the notion of a trade hangover, said Saturday that the events of July made him realize “how much I wasn’t over some of the things that I went through (in life),” most notably the death of 6-month-old son Jayden in 2006 from SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome).
On Monday, Odom faces the Lakers for the first time since he was traded. Averaging 6.6 points and 4.8 boards in a career-low 19.8 minutes per game, one has to wonder what if it is indeed a trade hangover or if the reasons he wanted to take a season off weren’t unwarranted. Maybe the match up against the Lakers will help jumpstart his season.