Lamar Odom was once considered one of the top likeable players in the NBA during his time with the Los Angeles Lakers and that seemed to reach a pinnacle after he was named Sixth Man of the Year a few seasons ago, but all that is gone now and the free agent star is dealing with a completely different story, as TMZ reports that he has been addicted to drugs recently.
According to TMZ.com, Odom was missing for three days and was not in contact with family members and the website reported that he was on a drug binge that may have involved crack as well as Oxycontin and Ambien. Updates reports now say that family members have been in contact with Odom, meaning he is not missing, but the fact that he is having these issues is troubling. Many reports have come out recently that he was having a very torrid affair with a woman behind wife Khloe Kardashian's back and that could be one reason for the slip up.
According to reports, Odom has had drug problems in the past and the Huffington Post reports that he was in rehab last year in August, but eventually left. The report says that he was clean and played for the Clippers last year, but afterwards that changed and he continued using drugs. Odom was considered a top free agent this offseason for the Lakers and Clippers and after reports came out that the team wanted to sign him over Antawn Jamison, the drug reports came out. Now the team is content to sign Jamison and TMZ reports that Odom's family is trying to stage an intervention for him.
Reports from TMZ say that Kardashian and Odom are not talking and that she kicked him out of their house and now the marriage could be on its last legs. Kardashian went off on Twitter about all the rumors and this comes way after he was suspended back in 2001 after smoking marijuana while in the league. Other reports from Radar Online have Odom using Oxycontin and Ambien and now the rest of his NBA career could be in jeopardy.
Odom has struggled since originally getting traded from the Lakers and the TV culture and tabloids that surround his life due to his marriage to Khloe Kardashian could be wearing on him as well. Odom ended up being a huge target for the press due to his wife and also there were issues when a charity of theirs was exposed by ESPN in a damning report. Now Odom must deal with all this and clearly the celebrity crazed, TMZ, reality TV culture that exists in the country today can contribute to the destruction of NBA careers and people as well. Odom now will have to wait and see if the Lakers still have any interest after all this and whether Jamison officially signs with the Clippers.
