Lamar Odom’s great Spanish adventure lasted all of two games – the veteran forward hurt his back, and will reportedly miss about a month as he returns to the U.S. for evaluation and treatment. Per ESPN:
Because Odom signed only a two-month contract with Laboral Kutxa Baskonia, sources said, it is still being determined whether he will return to the club before the end of the Spanish season.
After a long layoff, Odom signed the two-month deal with Baskonia on Feb. 18. But he played in only two games for the Vitoria-based club that has sent the likes of Goran Dragic, Luis Scola, Tiago Splitter and Jose Calderon to the NBA, logging just 23 minutes in those appearances.
Earlier this week, Baskonia issued a statement saying Odom had permission to leave to see a back specialist in New York after initially undergoing tests in Spain.
The two-month contract does include an option for Baskonia to extend the deal through the rest of the Spanish season, which has another two months to run. Such deals typically contain out clauses that allow established veterans such as Odom to return to the NBA if the opportunity arises, it was reported last month that Odom’s plan was to play out the rest of the 2013-14 campaign in Europe before determining whether to attempt an NBA comeback.
Odom appeared close to a return to the NBA in November, when new Clippers coach Doc Rivers invited him to the team’s practice facility to gauge the state of his game and well-being after a tumultuous summer in his personal life. But the Clippers ultimately decided to sign three of Odom’s veteran peers instead: Stephen Jackson, Hedo Turkoglu and Sasha Vujacic.
