Ahead of the release of his new memoir Darkness to Light, former NBA star Lamar Odom is opening up about cheating on ex-wife Khloe Kardashian, his debilitating cocaine addiction and his active sex life.
In the memoir, as excerpted by People, Odom gets candid about his drug addiction and near-constant affairs throughout his four-year marriage to the Keeping Up With the Kardashians star. He maintains the pair started out as blissfully happy newlyweds but is haunted by his infidelity.
“For a while, being with her was bliss and I was the happiest I’ve ever been,” Odom writes in his book. “We were one of the most famous couples in Hollywood and we made more money together than we had individually.
“I wish I could have been more of a man. It (cheating on her) still bothers me to this day. But regret is something we have to learn to live with.”
As the marriage wore on Odom’s mental health started to deteriorate and he turned to drugs and women to cope. He claims there were more than 2000 women, in fact, as Odom confessed to being a sex addict.
“I’ve had sex with more than 2000 women. There were too many strippers to count,” he writes. “It wasn’t a big deal, but often I would pay them. I never thought less of them.”
In an interview with People, Odom said: “Sex was a trigger for me to do drugs because you double up on (that) good feeling.
“My sex addiction and my cocaine addiction go hand-in-hand.
“(I) ran out of porn to watch! That’s how you know when you are going a little overboard.”
Odom’s 14-year NBA career came to an end in 2013 and as his time in the league was finishing up, his problems intensified.
“At the start of our marriage I was faithful to her (Kardashian),” he writes. “I could not handle the lethal cocktail of the spotlight, addiction, a diminishing career and infidelity.
“Oh, did I mention the paranoia, anxiety, depression … I couldn’t keep my d*** in my pants or the coke out of my nose.
“Drug addicts are incredibly skilled at hiding their habit. I’d get defensive and Khloe would just drop it.”
Kardashian put their divorce on hold as she stayed by Odom’s side throughout his health crisis following a drug overdose in October 2015. The incident where he was found unconscious in a brothel was almost fatal for Odom as he was left in a coma on life support, but he made a miraculous recovery and he knows he’s lucky to be alive.
“Her love for me must have been unconditional,” Odom said. “That’s the only thing (I think) that gave her the strength to still love me at that time.”
Odom and Kardashian finalised their divorce in December 2016.