Lamar Odom

Lamar Joseph Odom (born November 6, 1979) is an American former professional basketball player.

Odom also drew inspiration from the example of his maternal grandmother, a nurse who had raised five children and returned to school to earn her degree in 1980 at the age of 56.

In high school, Odom received national player of the year honors from Parade in 1997.

He played college basketball for the University of Rhode Island, earning all-conference honors during his only season in the Atlantic 10 Conference before turning professional.

As a senior, Odom was recognized nationally as the Parade Player of the Year in 1997.

Among other distinctions, he earned USA Today All-USA First Team honors and was named to the Parade All-American First Team for the second consecutive year.

While still in high school, Odom played on the same AAU team as future NBA teammates Elton Brand and Ron Artest (later known as Metta World Peace); he also played at the Adidas ABCD Camp with future Lakers teammate Kobe Bryant.

Adidas executive Sonny Vaccaro commented at the time that Odom possessed a "$2 million smile".

Though he considered entering the NBA directly from high school and consulted Kobe Bryant as a player who had made that jump, Odom ultimately decided that he was not ready and committed to the University of Nevada at Las Vegas instead.

However, a Sports Illustrated story questioning the validity of his ACT score and an arrest for soliciting prostitution provided the school cause enough to revoke his scholarship, and for this reason, he never played for the Runnin' Rebels.

To the university's further embarrassment, an investigation by the NCAA would later reveal that Odom had received $5,600 in illicit payments from one of its boosters, resulting in the firing of Coach Bill Bayno and UNLV being placed on probation for four years.

Odom transferred to the University of Rhode Island, with the cost of his room and board being covered by funds his father received from the G.I. Bill.

Since he was admitted as a non-matriculating student, Odom was forced to sit out the 1997–98 season.

After two semesters and a summer session, however, Odom earned his eligibility to play intramural basketball.

His career at Rhode Island had been in some jeopardy during his first semester after he once vanished before finals; that is until coach Jim Harrick prevailed upon three of his four instructors to let him make up his extant work.

The coach also had Odom work alongside DeGregorio, who had become a Rams assistant and ended up being the player's closest friend in college.

Odom played one season (1998–99) for Rhode Island, during which he averaged 17.6 points per game and led the Rams to the conference championship.

He earned First Team All-Conference honors and was named the Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year.

He was named the most valuable player of the Atlantic 10 tournament after his three-point shot at the buzzer against Temple gave the Rams their first A-10 title.

The Los Angeles Clippers selected Odom with the fourth overall pick in the first round of the 1999 NBA draft.

He was named to the NBA All-Rookie Team in the following year; it was during his four seasons with the Clippers, however, that he was twice suspended for violating the league's anti-drug policy.

Odom declared his eligibility for the 1999 NBA draft after his freshman year at Rhode Island.

As a restricted free agent, he then signed with the Miami Heat, where he played the 2003–04 season before being traded to the Lakers.

Odom played on the United States national team, winning a bronze medal in the Olympics in 2004 and a gold medal in the FIBA World Championship (later known as the World Cup) in 2010.

As a member of the Los Angeles Lakers in the National Basketball Association (NBA), he won championships in 2009 and 2010 and was named the NBA Sixth Man of the Year in 2011.

Odom was married to Khloé Kardashian from 2009 to 2016.

During their marriage, Odom made several appearances on the reality television show Keeping Up with the Kardashians.

He and Kardashian also had their own reality series, Khloé & Lamar.

Odom spent seven seasons with the Lakers, who traded him to the Dallas Mavericks in 2011.

After the move, his career declined.

He was traded back to the Clippers in 2012 and played briefly in Spain in 2014.

In October 2015, Odom was hospitalized in a comatose state after being discovered unconscious in a Nevada brothel.

He later sought treatment for drug and alcohol addiction.

Odom was born in South Jamaica, Queens, New York City, to Joe Odom and Cathy Mercer.

His father was a heroin addict.

His mother died of colon cancer when he was only 12 years old.

On her deathbed, she reportedly told him: "Be nice to everybody."

Odom was afterwards raised by his maternal grandmother, Mildred Mercer.

In his first three years of high school, Odom played for Christ the King Regional High School in Middle Village, Queens.

He left the school at the start of his senior year due to poor grades, transferring first to Redemption Christian Academy in Troy, New York, and then to the now-defunct St. Thomas Aquinas High School in New Britain, Connecticut, where he was coached by Jerry DeGregorio.