Lamar Odom's Ex Says Death of Son May Have Contributed to Athlete's Drug Problems

06/08/2017 05:25 pm EDT

Lamar Odom made headlines in 2015 when he was found unconscious following an overdose in a brothel and was subsequently hospitalized, and now, his ex is coming forward to detail a possible reason behind the athlete's troubled times.

Odom's ex Liza Morales told People that she believes the death of their young son together may have contributed to Odom's drug use.

Odom and Morales met in high school and were together for years and are parents to Destiny, now 17, and Lamar Jr., now 14.

In 2006, the couple's youngest son, Jayden, passed away from sudden infant death syndrome, and Odom and Morales split up soon after, staying in touch and on good terms.

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"I leaned on my spirituality. I leaned heavily on my family, my friends," Morales said of dealing with her son's death. "And he didn't."

In 2008, Morales heard Odom's drug problems were getting worse, and she explained that it's difficult for someone to get help if they don't want it.

"There was a lot of denial," she said. "When it comes to an addict, you cannot force them to get help, you cannot want it more than them.

"Back then we wanted it more than him."

Before checking into rehab in 2016, the former NBA star revealed on an episode of The Doctors that he "wasn't in a good place mentally" before his 2015 incident.

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Odom's daughter Destiny shared that her dad is now more open about things and that the family is moving forward step by step.

"Two years ago he was completely in denial about using drugs," she said. "Now he's a lot more open, and he's a lot more apologetic. I feel like we're trying to get our communication going, but it's definitely one step at a time."

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