5 THINGS KHLOE NEEDS TO KNOW ABOUT LAMAR

He turned pro a decade ago


Born and raised in South Jamaica, Queens, Odom began his basketball career during high school. He briefly enrolled at the University of Nevada Las Vegas before transferring to the University of Rhode Island where he led the team to the Atlantic-10 championship. After his freshman year, the L.A. Clippers drafted him before he went on to play with the Miami Heat in 2003. He's been with the L.A. Lakers since 2004.

He's had to deal with personal tragedies from a young age

His single mother, Cathy Mercer, a corrections and traffic officer, died from colon cancer when Odom was 12. His grandmother raised him after Cathy's death but she died in 2003 during a season when Odom was sidelined for injuries. Three years later – on the exact day his grandmother passed away – his 6-month-old son Jayden died from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome while sleeping in a crib. (He has two other kids, Destiny, 10, and Lamar Jr., 7., with ex-girlfriend Liza Morales)

He's busy off the court

Odom's business ventures include Rich Soil Entertainment, his music and film production company, and Son of Man, a line of Christian-themed apparel, which includes polos, jeans, and T-shirts. "Remember when Jay-Z wore a Che Guevara T-shirt? Nobody knew who Che was. Then Jay-Z wears it and it's everywhere," Odom told ESPN. "That's what I'm trying to do with this [clothing line]. My Man don't get his props and he's the biggest icon in the world."

He's faced a handful of scandals

While at the University of Nevada Las Vegas, school administrators withdrew his scholarship after a Sports Illustrated article questioned his standardized test scores. A NCAA investigation also discovered he was receiving cash payments from a booster before and after the university said he wasn't allowed to enroll at the school. A few years later in 2001, Odom was suspended while playing with the Clippers for violating the NBA's drug policy – he reportedly admitted to smoking marijuana – twice in less than a year.

He's got a huge sweet tooth

Electrolyte-filled sports drinks? Protein bars? Nope, Odom says he boosts his energy by eating candy – and lots of it. He once told reporters he had "a whole plate of jellybean Starbursts" and "it's funny because the games I played well were the games where I ate candy for breakfast." Wrigley even designed a replica championship trophy specifically for him made from Skittles, Starbust, Sour Gummi Tape, Life Savers Gummies and Hubba Bubba Source