Why Lamar Odom ‘Overlooked and Disregarded’ His Loved Ones to Be With Khloé Kardashian
Lamar Odom and Khloé Kardashian were one of the biggest celebrity couples of the 2010s. When they got married in September 2009, the athlete already achieved fame with the Los Angeles Lakers. Simultaneously, the Good American founder became famous for her family’s show, Keeping Up with the Kardashians.
The NBA star wrote about how his marriage to Kardashian affected his friends and family in his memoir, Darkness to Light.
Khloé Kardashian became Lamar Odom’s wife a month after they met
Odom and Kardashian’s love story began in 2009. In his memoir, the NBA star wrote that he met the reality star shortly after his relationship with Liza Morales. Morales was his high school sweetheart and is the mother of his children- Destiny Odom, Lamar Odom, Jr, and Jayden Odom. Jayden died of SIDS in 2006.
In Darkness to Light, the author recounted his first time hanging out with Kardashian. The pair met after noticing her and her brother, Rob Kardashian, at a party hosted by Ron Artest. He said he initially saw her “huge” eyes, as they reminded him of his mother’s. Although Odom thought they were going to “smash” that night, he and Kardashian ended up talking until the following morning. The next day, the couple had their first date and became inseparable.
“Things picked up steam in an unexpected hurry,” Odom wrote in his memoir. “The way our emotions, lust, spirit, and love intertwined and connected us is something I just couldn’t have predicted. For the next thirty days, we scarcely left one another’s side.”
Odom ‘overlooked and disregarded’ his loved ones after his marriage to Kardashian
After a month of knowing each other, the athlete proposed to Kardashian in front of her family. Once they were married one week later, Odom said his schedule became jam-packed with work. Soon, he became a cast member on KUWTK. Also, he and Kardashian were developing their spinoff show, Khloé & Lamar.
Because of his newfound fame, the athlete said he unintentionally isolated himself from his loved ones. He said he rarely saw his kids during their relationship, as they lived with Morales in New York. Around the same time, Odom had a secret cocaine addiction. The NBA star shared that his friends soon felt “overlooked” by him during his marriage to Kardashian.
“I overlooked and disregarded a lot of friendships when I fell in love with Khloé,” Odom said. “My head was spinning, but that wasn’t an excuse to separate myself from my friends. A lot of times, this is what happens when you get married. Your world becomes smaller. There’s someone new in your life who monopolizes almost all of your attention, and some people will come away with hurt feelings. I was either high or with Khloé.”
Is Lamar Odom still in contact with the Kardashians?
In Odom’s book, he admitted that “infidelity had become a regular part of my life” during his marriage. Eventually, Kardashian filed for divorce in 2013. However, she remained legally married to Odom after falling into a coma in Nevada back in 2015. Once he recovered, the couple finalized their divorce in 2016. That same year, Kardashian started dating Tristan Thompson. The pair welcomed their daughter, True Thompson, in April 2018. Odom also moved on to a fitness trainer named Sabrina Parr in 2019. Unfortunately, they ended their engagement in November 2020.
Since their split, Odom has shared his love for his ex and her family publicly. In March 2021, he posted an Instagram video of himself rewatching Khloé & Lamar. Although he hasn’t spoken to them directly in years, he said he would always be “grateful” to the Kardashians.
“My show with my ex-wife,” he captioned the video. “I want to thank @krisjenner @khloekardashian @kimkardashian @robkardashianofficial @kourtneykardash for taking me in and loving me without judgment – y’all gave me family, and for that, I am forever grateful.”
How to get help: In the U.S., contact the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration helpline at 1-800-662-4357
