Retired NBA Champion Seeking College Coaching Position in California, Could UCLA Be a Nice Fit?

The coaching staff of the UCLA Bruins are among the best in the business. Everybody knows what head coach Mick Cronin brings to the table at this point but looking beyond him, he has some excellent assistants, trainers and colleagues that help him prepare for each season and correctly utilize every man on the roster.

However, we know that changes are made every year and new opportunities present themselves. The departure of Ivo Simovic proved this as just like that, the Toronto Raptors made an offer to him to join their staff and the Bruins lost one of their most important members.

But UCLA could have a unique opportunity on their hands a few years down the line and even though nothing is set in stone, former Lakers champion Lamar Odom has dreams of joining a collegiate coaching staff at some point and specifically wants to stay in California.

He will likely start at the high school level first seeing that he landed an offer from a New York organization.

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TMZ Sports

reported a New York high school, Redemption Christian Academy, has offered Odom its head-coaching position, and he's considering taking the offer as he attempts to build a resume for a move to college hoops. Odom and the school have been in contact recently regarding the job, which was formally offered to him for the 2023-24 season. The 2011 NBA Sixth Man of the Year briefly attended Redemption during his high school career before transferring to St. Thomas Aquinas in Connecticut."

(Via Bleacher Report)

Obviously, coaching is far different than playing so we'll have to see if Odom is able to handle all of the responsibilities that come with it but he will be able to start with a nice role. If UCLA gave him a chance, he will bring a lot of knowledge with him about what it's like to take on elite competition on both ends of the floor, playing for a winning culture and also being able to make plays as one of the bigger players on the court.