Lamar Odom says Kobe Bryant was there for him in his time of need.
The 41-year-old athlete/reality star, appearing on All The Smoke with Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson, opened up about an instance in which the late NBA icon was willing to help him out of a financial debt after a bad gambling streak.
‘I had been gambling,’ he said. ‘It got a little too steep for where I was at at that time. It was getting tight. And if you in a bad situation, especially about some money, [Bryant] ain’t the one that you gonna wanna call.’
The latest: Lamar Odom, 41, appearing on All The Smoke, said that his late friend Kobe Bryant was there for him when he had money problems because of a gambling habit
The Queens, New York native said on the show, which was recorded March 22, that he ‘gathered up the strength,’ ‘put [his] pride to the side’ and ‘gave him a call’ in hopes of help.
Odom said that Bryant gave him a dose of tough love, taking him to task for his irresponsible behavior before assuring him he would lend a hand.
‘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 that I spoke to him,’ Odom said.
The 6ft10 Odom, who played with Bryant on two championship Los Angeles Laker teams in 2009 and 2010, said that he’d ‘learned so much from’ his late friend and colleague.
Throwback: Odom, who played with Bryant on two championship Laker teams in 2009 and 2010, was snapped with his late friend during a 2008 game in LA
Odom said that Bryant gave him a dose of tough love, taking him to task for his irresponsible behavior before assuring him he would lend a hand
Candid: Odom chat with fellow former NBA stars Stephen Jackson (L) and Matt Barnes on the topic
The ex-husband of Khloe Kardashian paid memorial to his friend after Kobe, 41, and daughter Gigi, 13, tragically perished in helicopter crash in Calabasas, California on January 26, 2020.
Also killed in the crash were pilot Ara Zobayan, 50, Payton Chester, 13, Sarah Chester, 46, Alyssa Altobelli, 14, Keri Altobelli, 46, John Altobelli, 56, and Christina Mauser, 38.
‘He taught me so many things in life that were necessary on and off the court,’ Odom said in an Instagram post. ‘On the court he taught me how to carve out defenses and how to take my time. How to make winning my ultimate goal. Off the court he taught me to sign my own checks lol.’
Missed: Kobe Bryant, 41, and daughter Gigi, 13, tragically perished in helicopter crash in Calabasas, California on January 26, 2020. They were snapped the year before in Las Vegas
He said, ‘Even though our relationship wasn’t father/son, it was more like him being a teacher and me being his brother.’
Odom alluded to his past health crisis, after he fell into a coma following a drug overdose at a Nevada brothel in October of 2015.
‘I know I been through my own stuff in life with using drugs and not being good to myself,’ he said. ‘When I went through that Coma situation if God would have came to me and said we would take me and spare Kobe I would have rather that happened.’