BERKELEY, Calif. – National Basketball Players Association executive director Michele Roberts told Yahoo Sports that Lamar Odom's crisis has "reignited" discussions to create a program to aid NBA players who are transitioning toward retirement.

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Odom was found unconscious at a brothel in rural Nevada last week in extreme critical condition. He was in a coma and suffered kidney failure, but has since begun physical therapy. Roberts has never met Odom, but said his incident has "reignited how much more" NBA players need a transition player program. Since being hired on July 29, 2014, Roberts says she's heard "dozens of stories" of how hard it is for NBA players to adjust to retirement.

"There are a lot of things that we need to repair with the NBPA," Roberts said a day after speaking to law students at the University of California-Berkeley. "There has been a dearth of services in terms of adhering to the guys' needs. One of the things we spend a lot of time dealing with is the complete absence of any type of transition program for the guys. On one hand you would say that's the responsibility of the [National Basketball] Retired Players Association, but they don't have the resources.

"We're sort of deciding how we can fill that space. Technically, our players are paying dues for services of current members. So there will have to be some buy-in. There is also clearly a lot of buy-in from the membership in terms of our operating health insurance for any retired player. The desire to be supportive of retired players is there among the current members. But what we need to figure out and create is a transition program under the auspice of the NPBA with the collaboration of the NBRPA. Lamar is a great example of why it needs to be done."

Roberts said she has been in detailed communication with Odom's agent since his incident. The outpouring of support for Odom from current players made an impression on her. She hopes a day will come when Odom is able to speak to young NBA players so they can learn from his story.

"I want him to hear from me, a complete stranger, about the unbelievable amount of love that he has and the responsibility he has with this second chance to turn things around," Roberts said. "I think life after basketball is lonely. To me the story with him is, if you don't have an adequate support system when you do make that transition, these are the kind of consequences that are possible. We look at it as an opportunity to engage in discussion with the players about life after basketball and making sure that a support system will help you avoid those kinds of mistakes."

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