Lamar Odom

Lamar Odom: biography

The New York City native, Lamar Odom is known as a successful basketball player. He appeared in NBA in 1999, as a draft’s fourth number of LA Clippers. Over the years Odom was playing for Clippers, Heat, Lakers, Mavericks, and retired in 2014. In 2019 he continued playing basketball in amateur and Arabian leagues. Representing the national team of the USA, Odom won the World Cup in 2010. He played at a small forward and power forward positions, and became NBA champion twice.

Also, he is the father of two children. Odom published a memoir in 2019. He is also known for problems with drugs and being in a coma in 2015. Odom has a net worth of $30 million, including all of his properties and earnings.

Childhood and youth

Like a lot of Queens-born kids, Lamar was brought up in the dysfunctional family. He was born to his parents on November 6, 1979. The Lamar’s dad suffered from drug addiction, while his mother suffered from CRC and died when Lamar was 12 years old. Lamar faced several problems with his education. At first, he changed three high schools.

In 1996 and 1997 he became the best American player of the year, according to various sources. His stats that season were 25 points, 17 rebounds, 12 assists and five blocks per game. Lamar scored 36 points in the Catholic League championship game as a 15-year-old sophomore, breaking the individual scoring record for the game established by Lew Alcindor.

College basketball career

Deciding not to rush with the NBA, in 1997 Odom was going to enter the UNLV. But the college’s team violated player recruitment rules by paying Odom several thousand dollars. It was a big scandal in college basketball. As a result of that incident, the Rebels’ head coach was suspended. And Odom entered the URI.

Even in a new university, Lamar continued to be a subject of college investigations. He lost his scholarship very soon and was not allowed to play basketball in season 1997-1998. Making serious efforts, he improved the situation in his studies and was able to obtain permission to join the team. In 1999 he helped the Rams to win their first conference title. Odom was awarded as MVP.

At the end of his freshman season, Odom announced his Draft campaign and signed with an agent. He went there as a lean, long-armed 6-10 player with guard skills. He was a superior passer that handled the ball well enough to bring it up to the court. Odom glided down the court with good speed and quickness, and he was very good in early offense.

Professional basketball career

Lamar became the rookie of Clippers as the fourth number of the 1999 draft. On August 12 he signed a three-year $7.88 million contract with the franchise. Lamar was good in his debut NBA season, scoring 17 points and eight rebounds per game. Two years later, Lamar did not pass drug tests and was suspended several times. That incident became a reason for his trade to Miami Heat in summer 2003.

The sides signed a six-year $65 million deal. However, Odom didn’t justify such a cost and could be remembered for one triple-double in one season for Miami. In a year he was traded to LA Lakers. Lamar started his Lakers’ career from several injures. In 2008 he could achieve his first NBA Finals. Next season he was out of shape, and the head coach put Lamar on a bench. He helped his team, showing good stats and in 2009 LA Lakers won their championship rings.

Next season, after the contract extension, Lamar showed the strongest season of his career as a sixth man of Lakers. At the end of the season, Odom was awarded by the association as the league’s best reserve player. In addition, the Lakers won the NBA again, the second time in a row.

In the following years, Lamar played for Dallas Mavericks (50 games), LA Clippers (82 games) and played in Spanish league two games. In 2014 he returned to NBA as a player of Knicks, but he didn’t appear on the court. Over the years, Odom spent 961 games in NBA, showing career stats: 8.4 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 13.3 points per game.

National team career

Odom received his first selection to the American national team as a player of Heat. Then he helped the US to become third on Olympics in Greece, scoring about 9 points per game. He missed the next tournament, because of his son’s death. In 2007 he also didn’t join the team because of his injury. However, Odom was in the golden roster of 2010, when the US basketball team broke a bad tradition and became the best in the world for the first time in 16 years.

Personal life

Lamar Odom met Liza Morales in the 9th grade in Queens. They started dating in the 11th grade and shared a tight bond due to a lot of things, including the fact that they both were products of broken homes. They spent ten years together filled with many ups and downs. But Lamar didn’t want to marry. He always told Liza that NBA marriages never lasted.

Odom pointed to Shaquille O’Neal’s marriage ending or Dwyane Wade’s marriage ending as examples of why they should wait until he retired to tie the knot. In 1998 Liza and Lamar welcomed their first baby. It was a girl, Destiny. Four years later, Liza gave birth to their son Lamar Jr. In 2005 they welcomed Jayden. Half a year later he died of SIDS. That trouble became the reason for the pair’s break up.

In 2009 Lamar met Khloé Kardashian. After a whirlwind six-week courtship, the Odom was engaged to be married to Kardashian. Some days later they tied a knot at a private residence in Beverly Hills. Once the two wed, Khloé was getting a taste of the spotlight when she was found sitting in the front of all of Lamar’s Lakers games. By 2011, two even had their own celebrity TV show chronicling their marriage titled Khloé & Lamar.

However, throughout their relationship, Lamar admittedly was battling serious drug addiction, while also stepping out on their marriage on multiple occasions. Khloé filed for divorce in 2013, the same year when Odom was arrested on charges of DUI. In 2015 Lamar suffered drug overdose that landed him in a coma and on life support.

After being found unconscious in a Nevada brothel, the former NBA forward was frighteningly close to death before fighting back to health. Despite the divorce proceedings, Khloé helped Lamar to overcome that trouble. She was near him and was the first to care of Lamar in recovery. Soon, the pair split after four years of marriage, and their divorce was finalized in 2016.

In May 2019, Odom issued his memoir, Darkness to Light, which dived deep into his whirlwind romance with Khloé Kardashian, among other things, including his NBA career and his bout with drugs and alcohol. He conducted a book tour in May. Through the book, Odom admitted that he was once so angry with Kardashian, while he was high on cocaine and ecstasy that he threatened to kill her.

He was apparently upset that she called his friends for help when he started hallucinating in his “man cave.” Also, Lamar revealed that he was once in a serious relationship with Taraji P. Henson more than ten years ago.

The story of Lamar’s life between drug addiction and recovery was told in a documentary Reborn. The movie highlighted his journey as he incorporated ketamine, plant medicine, and daily practice into his life to overcome addiction, anxiety, and past trauma.

On August 5, 2019, Odom has made his relationship with personal trainer Sabrina Parr public. He shared posts about Parr on August 3, expressing his appreciation for her and even calling her his new girlfriend. Alongside a photograph that showed off the health and life coach’s fit physique, Odom included a quote from Malcolm X.

“It’s just like when you’ve got some coffee that’s too black, which means it’s too strong, what do you do? You integrate it with cream… But if you pour too much cream in it, you won’t even know you ever had coffee.”

Odom added the hashtag “Black Royalty” to that quote. That was the reason for gossip about romantic relationships between Odom and Parr. Now their love story is true.

Filmography

• 1996 – Arli$$
• 2000 – ESPN Outside The Lines Sunday
• 2002 – Van Wilder
• 2005 – Entourage
• 2006 – Hood Of Horror
• 2009 – Fantasy Factory
• 2009 – Kobe Doin' Work
• 2010 – Minute To Win It
• 2010 – 2013 – Kourtney and Khloé Take Miami
• 2011 – 2012 – Khloé & Lamar

Achievements

• 2000 – All-Rookie (1st)
• 2009, 2010 – NBA champion
• 2011 – The best sixth man