At one level, not way back, Lamar Odom had all of it. Two NBA championships with the Los Angeles Lakers. A Sixth Man of the Yr Award. A gold medal with Crew USA. A multimillion-dollar profession, a wedding to a Kardashian, and the adoration of followers worldwide.
However Odom’s life off the court docket has usually been outlined by instability, habit, and monetary and private turmoil. And in current months, his identify has resurfaced not due to a comeback, however due to a court-ordered eviction and an ungainly look at a controversial crypto dinner hosted by Donald Trump.
So what occurred to one of the versatile forwards of his period?
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Bother Earlier than the Highlight
When making an attempt to dissect the autumn of Lamar Odom, some will level to his upbringing. It wasn’t the most effective. He was raised by his grandmother after his mom handed away from colon most cancers when he was simply 12 years outdated. His father was a heroin addict and wasn’t a constant presence in his life till Odom began making hundreds of thousands within the NBA.
Initially, he deliberate to play school basketball at UNLV, even enrolling in summer time courses in 1997. However the college launched him after questions arose about his unusually excessive ACT rating (22 out of 36). Throughout his transient time at UNLV, Odom was arrested for soliciting a prostitute in an undercover Las Vegas PD operation. It was later found that he accepted funds totaling $5,600 from a booster, additional complicating his eligibility.
He transferred to the College of Rhode Island, sat out the 1997–98 season, after which delivered a standout efficiency in the course of the 1998–99 season. Odom helped the Rams win the Atlantic 10 championship and hit a buzzer-beating game-winner within the match last.
Early NBA Success and Crimson Flags
Odom declared for the 1999 NBA Draft and was taken fourth total by the Los Angeles Clippers. He signed a three-year deal value $7.88 million and earned First-Crew All-Rookie honors. However by his second season, warning indicators emerged. He was suspended for his second drug-related offense in simply eight months, later admitting to marijuana use. His efficiency dipped. He performed solely 29 video games that season and simply 49 the subsequent. The Clippers declined to re-sign him.
He discovered new life with the Miami Warmth in the course of the 2003–04 season, posting a career-best 17.1 factors and 9.7 rebounds per recreation. However his greatest worth got here as a commerce chip. In the summertime of 2004, he was packaged with Caron Butler and Brian Grant and despatched to the Los Angeles Lakers in alternate for Shaquille O’Neal.
Championship Glory and Actuality TV Fame
Life was good again in Los Angeles. Odom performed out the six-year, $65 million contract he had signed with the Warmth, then signed a four-year, $33 million extension with the Lakers in 2009. That very same 12 months, he married actuality tv star Khloé Kardashian and have become a fixture on “Retaining Up With the Kardashians.” The couple additionally starred in their very own spinoff, “Khloé & Lamar.”
By the tip of the 2010–11 season, Odom was a two-time NBA champion, a Sixth Man of the Yr winner, and a crossover movie star. However simply as his fame reached new heights, his private {and professional} life started to spiral.
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The Starting of the Finish
Odom suffered a string of private tragedies and setbacks. A cousin he was extraordinarily near handed away. Days later, he was concerned in a automotive accident that killed an adolescent. His grief and emotional state appeared to have an effect on his play. In December 2011, the Lakers traded him to the Dallas Mavericks.
His time in Dallas was a fiasco. He performed terribly when he was with the group and even spent a while within the D-League (which he was very sad about). After an offended confrontation with Mavericks proprietor Mark Cuban, who questioned his dedication, he was positioned on the inactive listing in April 2012.
Dallas traded him to the Clippers, the place he performed all 82 video games of the 2012-13 season, however not properly sufficient to be introduced again the next 12 months. His subsequent cease was in a league in Spain in the course of the 2014 season, however an damage reduce it brief. The Knicks introduced him in for a part of the 2014 season, however he by no means truly performed in a recreation.
In whole, Lamar earned $115 million throughout his NBA profession from wage alone. Immediately, we estimate his web value sits at $20 million, though admittedly, this generally is a onerous quantity to nail down when medicine are concerned.
Extra Bother
His skilled decline mirrored his private one. In August 2013, he was arrested for drunk driving. Rumors of drug abuse swirled in tabloids and on-line. His marriage turned strained. In December 2013, Khloé Kardashian filed for divorce after months of public hypothesis. Their cut up wasn’t finalized till July 2015.
On October 13, 2015, Odom was discovered unconscious on the Love Ranch, a authorized brothel in Crystal, Nevada. At round 3:15 pm, somebody from the institution known as 911, saying he was unconscious and had some unusual mucus popping out of his nostril and mouth. He could not be airlifted to the hospital resulting from his top, however was ultimately transported to the Desert View Hospital, the place he was positioned on life assist. He had suffered a near-fatal overdose, experiencing 12 strokes and 6 coronary heart assaults whereas in a coma.
Many feared he would not survive. However after months of hospitalization and an extended rehab course of, he progressively recovered. Remarkably, he started talking publicly about his struggles, releasing a memoir, giving interviews, and vowing to remain sober. He even launched Odom Wellness Therapy Facilities, a community of rehab services geared toward serving to others battling habit.
For some time, it appeared like a real redemption arc was unfolding. He appeared on actuality TV once more, dabbled in boxing, and spoke candidly about his regrets and classes discovered. However the underlying instability—monetary, emotional, and reputational – by no means appeared far behind.
Again within the Headlines
In Could 2025, Odom made headlines once more, first for attending a high-profile cryptocurrency dinner hosted by Donald Trump in Virginia. The dinner, designed to reward prime buyers in Trump’s $TRUMP meme coin, was met with vocal protests. As Odom arrived, demonstrators heckled him, yelling “Hypocrite!” and waving indicators accusing attendees of corruption. Odom posted a video from the occasion, seemingly unfazed, and used the chance to advertise his personal meme coin challenge. It was one other puzzling chapter in his unpredictable post-basketball profession.
I am nearly to move by way of safety and formally stroll into the Trump Gala.
Actually… I am fired up.
Give it some thought—what meme coin has ever completed this?$ODOM is not only a token, it is taking the stage at a presidential gala tonight!
By the best way, Bitcoin is smashing by way of… pic.twitter.com/7eI5SezPLh
— LAMAR ODOM (@LamarOdom) Could 22, 2025
Then, simply final week, headlines surfaced claiming that Lamar was ordered to vacate a Studio Metropolis mansion after allegedly failing to pay $45,000 in hire. In accordance with court docket paperwork, Odom entered a $15,000-per-month rental settlement in late 2024 however didn’t make funds for January by way of March. A choose ordered him to vacate the property after he did not reply to authorized notices.
The Ongoing Paradox of Lamar Odom
At 45, Lamar Odom stays one of the compelling, conflicted figures to emerge from the NBA in current many years. His story incorporates almost each excessive: poverty and wealth, obscurity and superstardom, devotion and betrayal, triumph and close to loss of life. He as soon as stood on the pinnacle {of professional} sports activities and popular culture, and now finds himself navigating meme cash, evictions, and occasional public embarrassment. His legacy, like his life, stays a piece in progress, a reminder that expertise can take you far, however therapeutic is a a lot more durable journey.