Lamar Odom Announces His Return to Basketball

Lamar Odom
Lamar Odom is pictured at Nickelodeon's 2017 Kids' Choice Awards at USC Galen Center on March 11, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. Odom announced Wednesday that he would be returning to basketball on Thursday. Christopher Polk/Getty Images

Lamar Odom announced on his Instagram Thursday that he would be making a return to basketball, this time in China.

"I have some good news to share with you on this beautiful day from The Netherlands. My heart literally warms up now I can finally share with you all that I'm returning to play Basketball. I will be playing in China ! God is good," Odom wrote on his Instagram. "Thanks lord for giving me another chance in life and thank you fans for your the love and support during all those hard years."

Odom, 38, former NBA basketball player and ex-husband of Khloè Kardashian, moved to China in July after accepting a new management deal with 90 Plus Group, an intellectual property and branding company based in Shenzhen, China.

"Never give up on yourself and keep believing that only god can create the miracles you're hoping for," Odom continued in the post. "Basketball and my children have always been the light in my life and this is where my focus is right now."

The former NBA basketball player married Kardashian in 2009 after one month of dating. They had their own spin-off reality show from Keeping Up With the Kardashians, called Khloè and Lamar. In 2016, the pair divorced in court after Odom repeatedly refused to sign the divorce papers for months. The divorce came after Odom's very public struggle with addiction, rumors of cheating, and a DUI arrest and was finalized a year and a half after Kardashian's first filing.

Odom has been in and out of rehab since 2013 for addiction to crack cocaine. His return to basketball comes after years of recovery. In 2014, he bounced from the Los Angeles Lakers to the Dallas Mavericks, back to LA for the Clippers, and then became a floater, not signed to any NBA team at all. A back injury in the Euroleague caused him to step back from basketball in 2014, then that same year he signed to the New York Knicks to finish out the season. However, due to his struggle with addiction and a conflict with sports commentator Stephen A. Smith, who Odom accused of making light of addiction, the Knicks waived Odom's contract. He has not played basketball professionally since 2014.

The announcement of his return comes a week after shots were fired in a New York Hooters where Odom was eating. He addressed the incident on his Instagram on Wednesday.

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