Lamar Odom is looking to do something more in his life. The former NBA star joined TMZ Live on Monday to reveal that he purchased three-drug treatment centers in California. Odom said his goal is to help others battling addiction and wanting to turn their life around.
“When God had saved me from that accident, I was trying to find my purpose—and I think I may have found it,” Odom said on the show, per E! News. “I know I have found it.” Odom went on to say that seeing others get help is “more satisfying than people telling me what a great basketball player that I was.” He then added: “For me to have rehabilitation centers and wellness centers is a big deal. I want to put them everywhere. Drugs are bad everywhere.”
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Odom had his own battle with addiction. He previously said that he had his first encounter with drugs at the age of 12. In 2015, the former Los Angeles Lakers star was found unresponsive at a Las Vegas brothel, having suffered 12 seizures, six strokes and his heart stopping twice. While speaking to ABC News in 2021, Odom revealed that he was taking ketamine under medical supervision to help keep him sober.
“I went to rehab and did some other things, but ketamine came into my life at the right time,” he said. “I’m feeling amazing. I’m alive. I’m sober. I’m happy.” Odom also opened up about his sobriety journey in his memoir Darkness to Light, a book that was praised by his ex Khloe Kardashian.
“A lot of this stuff wasn’t my place to ever talk about, but it’s definitely his place as this happened to him,” she said during a 2019 episode of Keeping Up with the Kardashians. “I actually think it’s really courageous to talk about the amount of addiction that he’s had.”
Odom, 43, played in the NBA from 1999-2013 and spent time with the Lakers Los Angeles Clippers, Miami Heat and Dallas Mavericks. He spent the majority of his time with the Lakers (2004-2011) and helped the team win NBA titles in 2009 and 2010. Odom finished his NBA career averaging 13.3 points and 8.4 rebounds per game. He was named to the All-Rookie First Team in 2000 and won the Sixth Man of the Year award in 2011.
