One-time Maverick Lamar Odom had a rocky time during his stint in Dallas, which is more memorable for the Kardashian sideshow it produced than anything that happened on the basketball court. Things didn’t get much better for Odom after he left town. He returned to the LA, played a season with the Clippers, and then crashed out of the NBA. Late in 2013, Chloe Kardashian filed for divorce. The divorce was finalized in July of this year.
That should have been rock bottom for Odom, but things have taken a turn for the worse. Yesterday, the former NBA star was discovered unconscious in a Nevada brothel. He remains in critical condition at a hospital in Las Vegas.
A friend told the media that Odom seemed in good spirits over the weekend, and there have not been any confirmed reports of excessive alcohol or drug abuse. Still, his condition is serious enough that he was airlifted to Vegas and remains comatose and on a ventilator.
No matter how much he ticked off Mavs fans during his swing through the city, it is difficult not to feel terrible for the man whose life has been burdened with more heartache than one person should ever have to deal with:
Odom’s life has been filled with tragedy. Born to a drug addicted father, he was raised by his grandmother after his mother passed away from colon cancer. His six-month-old son died from SIDS in 2006, and in 2011, while returning to New York for a cousin’s funeral, he was a passenger in a car accident that killed a 15-year-old boy. He’s long battled substance abuse problems, including at least one reported rehab stint. “Life is so fragile,” Odom told theNew York Times in 2006. “I’ve got so much to live for.”
