LOS ANGELES, CA - MARCH 11: Former NBA player Lamar Odom at Nickelodeon's 2017 Kids' Choice Awards at USC Galen Center on March 11, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Emma McIntyre/Getty Images)
Lamar Odom was on the way to returning to professional basketball, but now that dream is deferred.
The former Laker’s player won’t be playing in the BIG3 league.
He’s one of four players who the league feels just aren’t ready to play yet, according to TMZ.
Baron Davis, Jermaine O’Neal and Bonzi Wells are the other basketball players who also got cut from the league that Ice Cube founded.
“You know, as a league, we want players that are actually playing,” Ice Cube told TMZ about the players getting ejected from the league.
Ice Cube also said that players who aren’t playing, “can’t play”, or who have health issues that prevent them from playing don’t have any business being in the BIG3 league.
Odom, a two-time NBA champ hadn’t played professional basketball in several years, following a near-death experience that took place in 2015 at a Nevada brothel, which caused health and wellness concerns. The former NBA star hopes to return next year, but it’s currently unclear whether or not he will be invited back.
Glennisha Morgan is a Detroit-bred multimedia journalist and writer. She writes about intersectionality, hip-hop, pop culture, queer issues, race, feminism, and her truth. Follow her on Twitter @GlennishaMorgan.