NBA Rumors: Lamar Odom Smart to Take Solace in the Game He Loves

Current Dallas Maverick and former Los Angeles Laker Lamar Odom apparently almost walked away from the NBA, but thanks to advice from family and his wife Khloe Kardashian, he chose to stick with the game he loved.

He couldn't have made a better decision.

There are points in all of our lives where we feel like giving up. We've all dealt with pressure and heartache, and some of us have experienced some of the most heart-wrenching losses a person would ever have to bear.

Nobody reading this is except from the trails of life, so I'm pretty sure everybody knows and understands what Odom was feeling.

According to the report from Marc Stein of ESPN, Odom was taking the murder of his 24-year-old cousin and the death of a pedestrian in a car accident he was in very hard—and who could blame him for that?

Stein reports that Odom almost decided to take a year-long sabbatical from the NBA:

"

My wife talked me out of it.

'Cause I was asking myself: "Was I mentally prepared to play? If I didn't play well, was I mentally prepared to help the team?" I had thought, "Maybe I need a year." Because of the lockout, I thought, 'Maybe somebody's sending me a sign that I needed this time off.'

(But) when I told some of my friends and my family that I was thinking about steppin' back for a minute, I think the reaction from the closest people to me kind of gave me the energy to get back at it.

"

This was a smart move on Odom's part, and I give kudos to his family and wife for helping him overcome his doubts and return to the NBA.

There's a time and a place for everything, and had Odom decided that he needed time to reflect on life without the rigors of the NBA, I don't think anybody would have blamed him.

That being said, the beautiful thing about sports is that they can be therapeutic. The same could be said for doing something you love.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that I think Odom loves the game of basketball, and playing it at such a high level may go a ways in helping him figure things out.

Everybody needs an escape, especially a healthy one. 

Odom gets to play the game he loves and get paid very well to do so. Personally, I can't think of anything better for a high-level athlete.

I wouldn't have blamed him had he taken some time off, but I think he made the right decision.