4 months after Iman Shumpert’s father died, the retired NBA star is reflecting on their closing dialog.
The 35-year-old former New York Knicks participant opened up about his late father, Odis Wayne Shumpert II, and the profound impression he had on his life throughout an emotional look on Shannon Sharpe’s hit podcast “Membership Shay Shay.”
Combating again tears, Shumpert shared that their final alternate was, fittingly, about model. Since retiring from the league, he’s taken on quite a few new ventures that require him to swap out his jersey for a swimsuit and tie.
“And our final convo, he simply was like, ‘Man, you look good in them fits. Man, I like that you simply taking jobs now that you simply sporting that swimsuit,’” he recalled. “After which he instructed me, ‘Don’t come house, end filming.’ As a result of we was filming the podcast. Advised me and my brother to not come house, end filming. He bought to go within the hospital. He’ll be proper again.”
Odis died in October 2025 in Chicago on the age of 71. Earlier than he handed away, he constructed a life and profession as an insurance coverage dealer. He additionally raised Shumpert alongside his brothers Otis III, Ahrii, and Kasani in Oak Park, Illinois, with their mom and his spouse of 44 years. He remained a gradual presence in his son’s life effectively into maturity and even appeared alongside him on the fact collection “We Bought Love: Teyana & Iman” which adopted Shumpert, his then-wife Teyana Taylor, and their two daughters, in addition to showing on his podcast “Iman Towards Males,” and in campaigns.
“I suppose it’s like, the happiest damage you can have,” he stated on “Membership Shay Shay” of dropping his father. “I do know lots of people didn’t have a father, and … I leaned on mine. I had pals that leaned on my father. And it’s like, it makes me pleased as hell to say, like, he was a superb man.”
He added, “However it’s like, inside that very same breath, it makes you cry like slightly child [because] I ain’t bought him no extra.”
Shortly after his father’s dying, Shumpert paid tribute on Instagram, sharing a carousel of images of the 2 by way of the years.
“Down goes the King…a candy goodbye to the best man I’ll ever know,” he wrote. “You’ll be able to take your relaxation pop, u did ur sh-t I promise. I don’t know if I’ll ever match ur sneakers however ima have em on on a regular basis anyway. I really like you man. Relaxation In Paradise.”
