Lamar Odom is opening up about the unbreakable bond he shared with the late Kobe Bryant, revealing that he is currently “56 or 57 days” sober.
While the former NBA player is focused on his mental and spiritual growth, he makes it clear that his strength comes from the mindset his former teammate instilled in him. “No alcohol, no pot, no marijuana. And I’m just [continuing] to grow mentally and spiritually. I do try to be my best self and practice the Mamba mentality, which has been passed down to me by my late brother [Kobe Bryant],” Odom told Page Six.
The depth of this brotherhood is a major focus in the new Netflix documentary, Untold: The Death & Life of Lamar Odom, premiering this Tuesday. The film revisits Odom’s harrowing 2015 overdose at a Nevada brothel, an event that saw Bryant, who passed in 2020, drop everything to rush to his bedside. Although Odom was in a coma and unaware of the visit at the time, the knowledge of that loyalty remains a pillar of his current sobriety. “But to know that he was there…when I’m reflecting on it, I think that’s probably what pulled me through. The love that I was getting from everybody. It’s always good to have support, and of course support from your brothers,” Odom explained.
Reflecting on his past struggles with cocaine and crack, Odom insists he is fighting to remain a changed man. “I’m not the same person. I do everything in my strength to protect my sobriety,” he said. While he admitted it can be easy to “backtrack” and reach out to old contacts, he views any slip as a matter of life and death. “If I take a step back, then I’m…dying. I feel like I want to live as long as Moses did.”
Despite a setback with a DUI in Las Vegas this past January, Odom is channeling the Mamba mentality into his cognitive recovery by reading and “sharpening up” his mind.
After waking up from his 2015 coma to a prognosis that he would never walk or talk again, he now views his journey as a miracle fueled by the brother who stood by him when it mattered most.
