It can be remembered that Lamar was unable to finish his 2-month basketball contract in Spain because of his back injuries. He was only able to play for Baskonia, also known as Laboral Kutxa, for two games. People weren't exactly pleased with his performance. During his first game for the Spanish team, he was only able to last for 6 minutes on the court, committing two fouls, three rebounds and scoring none. For his second game with Baskonia, he played for 17 minutes. Subsequently, his back problems worsened and he was forced to fly back to the U.S. to obtain a second opinion. Later on, he ended up terminating his contract with the Spanish basketball club altogether.

At one point in his life, Lamar thought that his days in the NBA are long gone. Thanks to his former coach Phil Jackson, who now works as the Knicks' president, Lamar was able to set foot back in the premier basketball league. Jackson had reportedly met Lamar a number of times prior to the signing.