Lamar Odom Says Death of Infant Son Triggered Drug and Cheating Spiral

Lamar opens up about addiction and his path to recovery.

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Lamar Odom is opening up about his struggles with addiction. In a candid essay for Players' Tribune, Odom revealed that his reliance on drugs spiraled out of control following the death of his six-month-old son in 2006. He also addressed the 2015 incident at Love Ranch in Nevada that left him in a brief coma. 

"My ex-wife was there in the room with me," Odom said of the moment he woke up in the hospital, referencing the support of Khloé Kardashian. "After all the shit I had done, I was surprised to see her. Honestly, that's when I knew that I was probably in bad shape." Odom added that part of the cycle of his "drug-infused life" had included "women, cheating on my wife, shit like that."

Looking back on his journey, Odom detailed what he called "one of the darkest places" he's ever been. "First of all I was in a motel," he said. "A motel. I'm a millionaire. I'd made it out of Jamaica, Queens, and won two NBA titles. And I'm in a motel, with some random person, doing coke. But I just wanted to get high with this girl, and I had no other place to go." According to Lamar, the moment his "wife (at the time) walked in" was when he "probably" hit rock bottom.

Speaking on cocaine specifically, Odom said he didn't try it for the first time until he was 24. He admitted he used the drug as an occasional, recreational activity, until the death of his six-month-old son Jayden.

"The doctors told us that the cause was sudden infant death syndrome," Odom said. "It almost sounded made-up. No explanation. No answers. Just... gone. Like that. And you're supposed to just accept it. You're supposed to live with that."

For Odom, the death resulted in his drug use picking up until the point—in his early 30s—that he wanted to be high "all the time." Ultimately, Lamar advised, "nobody is untouchable." Read the full essay here.

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