Lamar Odom

 Lamar Joseph Odom (born November 6th 1979) is an American former professional basketball player. As a player with 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.In high school, Odom received national player of the year awards from the Parade in 1997. Odom was a college basketball player at the University of Rhode Island and received all-conference honors during his first season in the Atlantic 10 Conference. He then went on to become a professional basketball player. Odom was the fourth overall pick of the 1999 NBA draft by the Los Angeles Clippers. He was named to the NBA All-Rookie Team in the next year. It was during his four seasons with the Clippers however that he was suspended twice for violating the league's anti-drug policy. Odom was an restricted-free agent for the Miami Heat and played the 2003-04 season before being transferred to Los Angeles. Odom was a seven-year player for the Lakers before being traded to the Dallas Mavericks. The Lakers' career was ruined following the trade. The decline in his career began when he was traded to the Clippers in 2012. He also played briefly in Spain in 2014. Odom was married to Khloe Kardashian in 2009 and 2016. The couple was married from 2009 to 2016. Odom made several appearances on the reality television show Keeping Up with the Kardashians. He and Kardashian also had their own reality series, Khloe & Lamar. In October of 2015, Odom was hospitalized in a comatose state after being discovered unconscious in the Nevada brothel. He later sought treatment for drug and alcohol addiEarly lifeOdom was born in South Jamaica, Queens, New York City, to Joe Odom and Cathy Mercer. His father was an addict to heroin. His mother died of colon cancer when he was only 12 years old. When she passed away she was said to have said to him: "Be nice to everybody. Mildred Mercer who was Odom's maternal grandma, raised him. Odom attended Christ the King Regional High School, Middle Village, Queens, for his first three years. Odom left the school in his senior year because of low grades. He then moved to Redemption Christian Academy, Troy, New York and then to St. Thomas Aquinas High School, New Britain, Connecticut. Jerry DeGregorio was his coach. [9][10] As a senior, Odom was recognized nationally as the Parade Player of the year in 1997. [11] Odom was named the Parade Player of the Year in 1997 when he was an incoming senior. He also received USA Today All-USA First Team distinctions in the midst of high school. Sonny Vaccaro, an Adidas executive, stated that Odom had an estimated $2 million smile as well as an academic career at the college level. Odom considered going directly to the NBA from high school but decided that he wasn't willing to go that route and signed up for the University of Nevada at Las Vegas. However, a Sports Illustrated story questioning the legitimacy of his ACT score and an arrest for soliciting prostitution provided the school with enough evidence to end his scholarship and for this reason, he never played for the Runnin' Rebels. The further embarrassment to the school came after an NCAA investigation found that Odom received $5,600 in illegal payments.[1717 UNLV was placed on probation for four year and Coach Bill Bayno was fired. Odom was then transferred to the University of Rhode Island with the cost of his room and board, which was which was paid for by his father from the G.I. Bill. Since he was admitted as a non-matriculating student, Odom was forced to miss the 1997-98 season. [5][19(19) Odom was able to be a candidate for intramural basketball after two years and one summer session. Odom's college career at Rhode Island was in jeopardy following his loss to his final game. However, coach Jim Harrick convinced three of his four instructors that he would continue to work. The coach also had Odom work alongside DeGregorio, who had become an assistant Rams assistant and became the player's best friend in college. Odom also drew inspiration from his maternal grandmother who was who was a nurse who had raised five children and returned to school to earn her degree in 1980 at the age of 56. The season that Odom played was (1998-99) with Rhode Island, during which the team averaged 17.6 points per game. He helped lead the Rams to the conference championship. 20) He was named First Team All-Conference honors, and was named Atlantic 10 Rookie-of-the-Year. He was named the most valuable player during the Atlantic 10 tournament after his three-point shot in the final seconds against Temple which earned the Rams their first A-10 title.