Lamar Odom attends Lakers game as Kobe Bryant’s guest
Lamar Odom has slowly become more a public presence in the months since his October overdose at a Nevada brothel, appearing at events such as Kanye West’s February music-fashion event and the Kardashians’ Easter Sunday gathering. But Odom had not yet appeared where he had his greatest professional success — as a Los Angeles Lakers forward at Staples Center.
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That changed on Wednesday when the Lakers hosted the Miami Heat for Kobe Bryant’s final game against Dwyane Wade. As first reported by ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne, Bryant left a pair of tickets for his former teammate Odom. The two-time champion showed up and was seen around the arena talking with team officials and other fans.
Bryant considers Odom one of his closest teammates and has shown lots of respect for him since their days playing together. He also visited him with general manager Mitch Kupchak on the night of his hospitalization. (The Lakers were in Las Vegas for an exhibition game.) Byron Scott and Metta World Peace spoke about Bryant and Odom’s relationship in October. From Bill Oram of the Orange County Register:
“He’s very close to Lamar,” Scott said. “Loves him like a brother. So, it’s just a rough time for Kobe dealing with that. This is probably the first time he’s had a teammate that’s gone through something like this.” […]
“Kobe’s amazing,” World Peace said. “Kobe left right after the game; he went to go visit Lamar and stayed there with him, and I thank him.”
Given that bond, It’s likely that Bryant would have left Odom tickets for any game he had requested.
Odom played for the Lakers from 2004 to 2011, winning two championships with the franchise in 2009 and 2010. He won the Sixth Man of the Year award in 2011 but was traded to the Dallas Mavericks following that summer’s league-wide lockout.
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Eric Freeman is a writer for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
