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Lamar Odom: I went to Miami one year and linked up with Kobe Bryant back with the Lakers in a trade. I could had avoided the trade honestly, I didn't have to go, but to go back to Los Angeles and be a Laker, and play with Kobe? I couldn't pass down on that. Q. It seemed like it was a call from Kobe, that's the thing that really made the deal happen, made you go back over to the West Coast and become a Laker. Odom: Yeah. I mean, I've known Kobe before he went to the NBA. We had the same kind of representatives from Adidas. He was Adidas before he was Nike. And Kobe, if you knew him even in 12th grade or before he made it to the NBA, you knew it was something special about him. You know he wanted ‘it’, whatever ‘it’ is to those NBA players out there. He wanted to be better than Michael Jordan. And in some people's eyes, he almost came close.
Jalen Brunson: Can you talk about the battles with the Lakers in the playoffs? Like it was like what two or three years in a row, maybe four. Amare Stoudemire: Yeah, it was tough, man. Cuz with Kobe you can't really game plan for him, right? We have a scouting report for Kobe and like try to contain force him to his left. We send a double team from the baseline. If he's in the post or from the top, we send we send a double team from the wing, if he catches the ball center court, top of the key. Other than that, Kobe knew how to avoid all double teams. He knew he had all the counter moves for every double team that may come his way. So, we really couldn't stop Kobe. We had all we can do is try to contain him, make it tough for him, get into his body on his shot. Small little details help maybe help change his shot a bit. And then for me, I had a battle also, one year got to go against Shaq. It was Shaq and Kobe. And then Shaq left and then we took over. Phoenix took over the West and then somehow they got Pau Gasol and then they got Andrew Bynum and then they had Lamar Odom. So I'm on the inside playing small as a five. Got to guard Lamar Odom who is 6-10. Got to guard Andrew Bynum at 7-1 and Pau is 7-1. And it's me on the inside.
What made now the right time to tell your full story with Untold: The Life and Death of Lamar Odom? Lamar Odom: “Well, the secret Netflix had a good paycheck, bro (laughs)," Odom said. "No, but it's a time and place for everything. I don't know what made me relevant now. “I thought it was something that I had totally, totally gotten past. But I understand that, me being a Laker and the first black Kardashian, always have some relevance here in America. “And so, would not be a better time to tell my truth. You know what I mean? A lot of people probably had it misunderstood and thought that a drug addict went to the brothel one night and bought a big bag of cocaine and overdosed. I was living in Vegas, and I didn't make the connection. I didn't have a cocaine connection yet. And so, that was, I considered it as a hit. “So, still some trauma that comes along with that, too, because, oh, they're going to come back. Do I need to sleep with the gun under my pillow?”
Are you saying it was a hit on you? Someone tried to kill you? Lamar Odom: “I mean, just think about it. I didn't take cocaine that night, that day. And you tested for it. Feel what I'm saying? It wasn't a godfather-type of hit, but I think someone knew I had an addiction and knew I had a weakness when it came to drugs and women, and thought that'd probably be the best time to take me out. “That's the only thing that I could come, when I'm at it, when I put it, when I try to add it all together, I'm a man that walks with God. I listen to my gut a lot. I guess that's the God within me telling me, right?
So what role did Phil Jackson play in your life on and off the court? Lamar Odom: “A teacher. We all go through school and go through academics. And I'm pretty sure you can remember who was your favorite teacher. I didn't have many. Growing up, you know what I mean? I didn't have many. I'm an eighth-grade dropout. I kind of quit school after my mother passed away when I was 12 years old. “I would say, Phil and Pat Riley. Probably my two favorites. My two favorite teachers and my basketball walk. I know the importance of every position on the court. And one of the reasons is because how I played the game, how I always saw the game.”
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Lamar Odom’s testimony surrounding addiction and a near-death experience is the spotlight for Netflix’s new documentary, “Untold: The Death & Life of Lamar Odom,” which premiered Tuesday. The doc, roughly 90 minutes long, recaps a dark moment of Odom’s life — including a time where he survived a coma, endured a dozen strokes, had six heart attacks and suffered partial kidney failure — but also focuses on a current chapter of sobriety and coping with inner demons. “It’s something I’m very proud of,” Odom told The Athletic in an exclusive interview. “As I get another day, I feel like I’m just earning stripes to be able to tell my testimony to as many people as I can. I think that’s where the healing begins.”
Lamar Odom believes, even in his struggles with addiction after the brothel incident, he is still alive because his testimony can help others. “This last stint in rehab that I just went through, I learned a lot about my thought process and how it works when you have a diseased brain,” Odom said. “Hopefully, it’ll serve for addicts, you know, for their families to understand (and be) a little bit more empathetic. I don’t think no one asks for this disease, just like no one asks to have cancer or any other disease that they might have been born with.”
Lamar Odom is getting back to work after checking out of rehab -- and getting back to his basketball roots, TMZ has learned. Sources close to the former NBA star tell us, Lamar has been traveling recently and sat down with several college basketball programs to discuss potential coaching opportunities.
The two-time NBA champ has had conversations with athletic departments and basketball staff about joining them to help develop the next generation of players. Sources told TMZ ... Lamar is pitching schools on bringing back elements of the legendary Triangle Offense, the system he mastered while playing for then-Lakers head coach Phil Jackson. We’re told Lamar believes young basketball players can benefit from the strategy ... and he's eager to land a job where he can start training a new batch of basketball stars.
Lamar Odom has checked out of rehab after completing a 30-day program at iRely Recovery in Los Angeles. The 46-year-old former NBA star entered the program after getting arrested for DUI. At the time his arrest news broke, Odom stated neither alcohol nor narcotics played a role in the arrest ... but police said Odom's car reeked of weed when he was pulled over and said Odom admitted to smoking earlier in the day.
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Lamar Odom tells story on Kobe Byrant saying he was better than Michael Jordan: Odom: He on a streak he had like 9 game winners, walk offs. His 9th one were in Milwaukee, you know how your adrenaline is still pumping after the game? He’s talking to him, this n**** is murmuring to him ‘I’m better than Mike.’ That’s where he was trynna go Tracy McGrady: I told this exact story when we were younger and When I used to stay with him at his house, he was saying the exact same thing. I’m looking at home like ‘Yo you buggin.’ At 19 years old he was saying the exact same thing
Lamar Odom on drug addiction: I loved drugs. You’re talking to a real addict… Summertime I did drugs I ain’t gonna front… I had some great cocaine summers… I should be where yall at in the hall of fame. Off of straight talent. I had people coming to me when I was 13 years old saying ‘no doubt in my mind you’ll be a hall of famer.’ Let’s keep it real, I was shooting a reality show in season. That mean I was playing in the games still won 6MOY shooting a reality show. So I know I had the grit and makeup to do it. But overall greatness and legacy, yeah I hurt that by abusing drugs. 100%”
Lamar Odom: Pot. A lot of people don’t have addiction genetically passed down to them. My father was a heroin addict. Pot ain’t getting you high no more than your like ‘lemme try some cocaine.’ Started smoking at 14/15. It’s trauma too. My mom died when I was 12 years old… You’re gonna explode after you lose your mom, my mom was my best friend… I remember at 10 years old telling my mom I was going to NBA and buying her a big house, then at 12 she wasn’t there anymore.