Lamar Odom has had his ups and downs, but it appears the star athlete’s struggles date back father — and were more serious — than fans initially believed. The Los Angeles Lakers player revealed the lengths he went to in order to pass a drug test for the 2004 Olympics despite smoking marijuana in his forthcoming tell-all, “Darkness to Light.”
In an excerpt first shared with PEOPLE, Odom recalled using a prosthetic penis and drug-free urine to get on the team. He said in the book snippet that he and his team “started googling ‘fake penises’ and studied different ways to beak a drug test.” Eventually, they settled on a prosthetic, which they managed to get urine to pass through.
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“After an exhaustive search we ordered a giant, rubber, black c— to arrive the next day,” Odom wrote in “Darkness to Light,” according to PEOPLE. “I unzipped my pants and carefully slid the fake penis through the zipper hole. To get the pee to come out of the tip, I had to squeeze the shaft repeatedly.”
Odom admitted in the excerpt that he was “paranoid” this tactic wouldn’t work, but he passed. Before he knew it, he was flying to Greece to participate in the Olympics as part of Team USA. Odom and his team mates weren’t able to secure a gold medal, but managed to place third overall.
It’s no secret that Odom’s had issues with drugs in the past. In 2015, Khloe Kardashian’s estranged husband was found unconscious in a Nevada brothel after nearly succumbing to the effects of a dangerous combination of drugs. Two years prior, he was charged with driving under the influence. Amid his struggles with substance abuse, Kardashian withdrew her petition for divorce, but filed again in the spring of 2016. The exes remained supportive of one another, though Odom hasn’t seen with the Kardashians in some time.
He did, however, attempt to show her support while she dealt with fallout from the Tristan Thompson cheating scandal. A source close to the retired NBA player told PEOPLE he wanted to reach out to Kardashian during her split from Thompson, but had reservations.
“Lamar has always cared about Khloe, he still has love for her and he hates that she’s been hurt again,” the source said. “he has a lot of regret over how he acted in their marriage. And he feels awful that she is going through more pain. He wants to reach out to her and give her his love and support.”
Odom appears to be doing well in the wake of his substance abuse battle, though he was sued in January over payment to a travel agent. The Blast reported that he personally placed several airline ticket orders through an agent, and then refused to pay for them. The total cost of the tickets, which were to cities like Los Angeles, Fort Lauderdale, New York, Las Vegas, Portland and Hong Kong, was about $25,000.
