Kobe Bryant Tried To Help Lamar Odom with His Gambling Problems

kobe bryant

Basketball icon Kobe Bryant offered to help Lamar Odom out of his gambling troubles before his death. Retired Los Angeles Lakers star Lamar Odom recently made it known that his late teammate offered to get him out of his gambling troubles. According to Odom, he was in a bad situation then. He lost a massive sum during a bad gambling streak and stacked up a ton of debt when the basketball icon offered help.

Lamar didn’t reveal how much debt he was in, but it must be a massive amount of money. He also didn’t tell if Kobe got to help out before he passed away. However, one may wonder how a basketball player who made about $100,000,000 in his career could get into such debt. 

Gambling Trend

As you may know, there’s nothing wrong with gambling in moderation, but gambling addiction is another story. Aside from causing financial problems, gambling addiction may also affect a person’s relationships and physical/mental health. 

Meanwhile, it’s no secret that gambling habits can affect everyone, including stars. It’s all fun and ‘having a good time’ until it spirals out of control. According to NAFGAH, wagering abuse cases are constantly increasing, and about 10 million Americans live with gambling addiction. People who go into gambling to improve their mood or as a distraction often become problematic gamblers. As more lives become affected, there are basic principles to gambling responsibly that should be easy to follow to reduce gambling problems. 

Lamar Odom’s Gambling Situation

During a conversation with NBA players Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson on their podcast, ‘All the Smoke’, Odom shared the moment he was in a lot of debt due to his gambling. It was overwhelming for him that he had to call his old teammate, Kobe Bryant, for help. 

Lamar, who was married to Khloe Kardashian between 2009 and 2016, explained that his old teammate chastised him. He recalled, “I had been gambling. It got a little too steep for where I was at that time. It was getting tight. And if you are in a bad situation, especially about some money, (Kobe) ain’t one you gonna wanna call.” 

Despite this, Lamar said he gathered his strength and called him. “I put my pride to the side, and I gave him a call.” After the phone conversation, Odom, 41, said Bryant scolded him for being irresponsible with his money. 

Kobe Bryant Offered to Help With His Gambling Debts

After scolding him, Kobe Bryant also tried to help him pay off his debts.

Lamar Odom said, “after he went in, he was just like, “have your people call my people, and we’ll figure it out. That was one before the last time I spoke to him.”

As you may recall, Kobe Bryant died tragically in January 2020, along with his young daughter, Gianna Bryant, and 7 others in a helicopter accident. They were on their way to a  youth basketball game. 

Lamar learned a lot from Bryant

Lamar Odom also revealed he learned many basketball and life lessons from the Basketball star when they played together. Bryant and Odom were teammates for seven seasons on the Lakers. They won two championship titles together between 2009 and 2010. 

After his death, Lamar made a glowing tribute revealing how much he learned from Kobe over the years.

“He taught me so many things in life that were necessary on and off the court. Said Odom on Instagram. “On the court, he taught me how to carve out defences and how to take my time, how to make winning my ultimate goal. Off the court, he taught me to sign my own checks. Even though our relationship wasn’t father/son, it was more like him being a teacher and me being his brother.”

Odom, who once suffered a drug crisis, continued by saying he would have traded his life for Kobe during his near-death overdose in 2015.

“I know I’ve been through my own stuff in life with using drugs and not being good to myself. When I went through that Coma situation, if God would have come to me and said we would take me and spare Kobe, I would have rather that happened.”  Meanwhile, Kobe Bryant left his Preseason game to visit Odom at the hospital during his critical condition.

Late Kobe Bryant will be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in May, and Michael Jordan will be paying tribute to the late icon during the ceremony. This ceremony would have taken place in 2020 as previously scheduled but had to be postponed due to the pandemic.

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