Lamar Odom is an American basketball player and NBA star. He played as a forward and was twice champion with the Lakers. He was considered a talented basketball player, but the athlete ruined his career due to drug addiction.
Biography: early years
Lamar Joseph Odom was born on November 6, 1979 in Queens, the second most populous borough of New York. His family lived in one of the slums of the city. The childhood of the future basketball player was difficult. My father was fond of hard drugs. When Lamar was 12 years old, his mother died of cancer. His grandmother took up his upbringing.
At school, Lamar became interested in basketball. Even then, he dreamed of becoming an NBA star. Stable growth and excellent speed indicators allowed him to show good results in the game. He deftly made rebounds, and his strikes were notable for accuracy. As a teenager, Odom began playing for the local city team, which played at an amateur level.
In 1997 Lamar became a student at the University of Nevada. However, he did not study there for long. It was all the fault of the scandal that happened after the university's management became aware of Lamar receiving more than $ 5,000 from an agent. And this was not welcomed in the student sports association. Then Lamar was forced to continue his education at another university and miss the 97/98 season. Already in the next season, Odom celebrated the championship as part of the Rhode Island Rams student club. Then he scored at least 17 points per game.
Career
In 1999, Lamar made his NBA debut with the Los Angeles Clippers. In the first season, he played 76 matches. In 2000, he was included in the NBA Rookie Team.
In 2003, Odom began to defend the colors of the Miami Heat. He finished the season brilliantly. In 2004 Lamar moved to the Los Angeles Lakers. In its composition, five years later, he became the NBA champion for the first time. The following year, this success was consolidated. Despite the second championship, the club traded Lamar to the Dallas Mavericks. There he lost the entire season.
In 2014, the basketball player completed his professional career.
Scandal
In 2015, Odom was found unconscious in a Nevada brothel. Later it turned out that the athlete went too far with a drug that increases potency. He spent several days in a coma. In sports circles, there were rumors that heroin overdose was to blame.
Personal life
Lamar Odom gained fame as a ladies' man. In the tabloids every now and then skipped articles about his love affairs with girls of easy virtue. In 2009, he entered into a legal marriage with socialite Khloe Kardashian. In 2013, their union broke up. The reason was Lamar's numerous betrayals.
The basketball player later admitted that marriage to Chloe was the best event in his life. However, Kardashian was already happy in a new relationship and did not react to this statement of her ex-husband.
Odom has two children from ex-girlfriend Lisa Morales: son Lamar and daughter Destiny. The athlete had another child - a son. However, he died at the age of one and a half.
