It’s been almost four years since Lamar Odom’s cocaine overdose he suffered at a Nevada brothel in 2015, but he is still dealing with the repercussions and complications from that fateful day.
The 39-year-old former NBA all-star recently revealed he struggles with short-term memory loss as a result of his stroke, heart attack, and coma.
“My damn memory. I can’t remember shit,” Odom told Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News, noting that he tends to forget where he placed an object moments after setting it down.
Something as simple as dribbling a basketball has become quite difficult for him.
“From the stroke, some of my balance is not the same, my equilibrium is not the same, but I’m working on it to get it better,” he said. “Handling the basketball came so naturally. When I see that going between my legs and going behind my back is a problem, I think that’s the coma and stroke and heart attack.”
Back in February, Odom was a member of Filipino squad Mighty Sports at the Dubai International Basketball Championship and he is now trying to continue his basketball comeback by playing for Ice Cube’s BIG3 League.
“For me, it’s just a blessing to be able to play. I’m just refining all my skills,” Odom said. “I think God made a deal with me. He said, ‘I’m going to give you life, but I’m going to take your basketball skills.’ But I don’t mind working to get it back. It’s going to be a tedious process, but it’ll come back.”