Lamar Odom returns to US with back injury

Cassandra Negley

Lamar Odom returns to US with back injury image

Last year was a rough one for Lamar Odom. This year doesn't seem to be going well, either.  

The NBA veteran has only played two games with his new team in Spain and is already on his way back to the States with back issues, according to ESPN. Odom is expected to miss at least a month, which led Laboral Kutxa Baskonia to allow him to return to the U.S. for further evaluation and testing, per the report. 

PHOTOS: Top free agents in 2014 | Most beloved player for every NBA team

The former Sixth Man of the Year didn't have any NBA suitors for the 2013-14 season and instead signed a two-month deal with Baskonia in February. He's logged 23 minutes in the two starts and his short contract could mean he doens't return to the team. The Spanish league has two months left in its season, so Odom could have his contract extended. He told ESPN in February he planned to finish the rest of the season in Europe before determining whether to make an NBA comeback.

Odom, 34, rose to stardom with the Los Angeles Lakers and was part of a nixed three-way trade in 2011, then went to the Dallas Mavericks, where more minor drama ensued. He spent a year with the Clippers and was close to returning to the team last fall. 

But his personal life hit tabloids hard when rumors of infidelity and drug use ran rampant and wife Khloe Kardashian finally filed for divorce in December. The drama continues to play out on her family's reality show "Keeping Up with the Kardashians."

The finale, which Lamar Odom will reportedly not watch, airs Sunday. 

 

Cassandra Negley