Lamar Odom: ‘I had 12 strokes and six heart attacks when I was in a coma’
Lamar Odom knows he’s lucky to be alive.
“All my doctors that see me say I’m a walking miracle,” the former Lakers and Clippers player told Kevin Hart during this week’s episode of the comedian’s “Cold as Balls” web series on Laugh Out Loud.
“I had 12 strokes and six heart attacks when I was in a coma.”
In October 2015, Odom spent several days in a coma after binging on cocaine, alcohol and an herbal sexual stimulant at a Nevada brothel. The fact that Odom now is able to have a regular conversation with Hart — while soaking in a tub full of ice water, as is the show’s gimmick — does seem miraculous.
“It’s a good day to be alive considering the alternative,” said Odom, who told Hart he is fully recovered from his addictions.
Odom spent all but two of his 14 NBA seasons with one of the two Los Angeles teams, winning a pair of NBA titles in 2009 and 2010. When given the opportunity by Hart, Odom did not blame the atmosphere in L.A. for any of the problems he had at the time.
“We make bad decisions, bro,” he said. “That’s all.”
Odom came to the Lakers in 2004 as part of the trade that sent Shaquille O’Neal to Miami. Shaq and the Heat went on to win an NBA title in 2006. Hart asked Odom which team he thought got the better end of that trade.
“Both won championships,” Odom said. But when pressed by Hart, the now-retired player added, “I won two.”
Twitter: @chewkiii
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