Lamar Odom's Real Name: Lamar Joseph Odom

Quick answer: Lamar Odom's real name is Lamar Joseph Odom. He was born on November 6, 1979, in Jamaica, Queens, New York.

Real name and early life

Basketball-Reference and ESPN list him as Lamar Joseph Odom, born November 6, 1979, in Jamaica, New York. Biography.com places his birth in South Jamaica, Queens. He was raised largely by his maternal grandmother after his mother, Cathy Mercer, died of colon cancer when he was 12.

A Parade national high-school player of the year in 1997, he played one season at the University of Rhode Island (1998–99), earning Atlantic 10 honors and tournament MVP before entering the NBA draft.

Quick facts

• Real name: Lamar Joseph Odom
• Known as: Lamar Odom
• Born: November 6, 1979, in Jamaica, Queens, New York
• Known for: Basketball player
• Notable work: Los Angeles Lakers (NBA titles 2009, 2010); NBA Sixth Man of the Year (2011)
• Sources checked: Basketball-Reference, ESPN, Biography.com, AP News

Career highlights

The Los Angeles Clippers selected Odom fourth overall in the 1999 NBA draft. He made the All-Rookie First Team, later played for the Miami Heat (2003–04), then spent seven seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers, winning championships in 2009 and 2010. In 2011 he was named NBA Sixth Man of the Year. Stints with the Dallas Mavericks and a return to the Clippers followed; he also played briefly in Spain in 2014. Career NBA averages include about 13.3 points and 8.4 rebounds per game over 961 games.

He won Olympic bronze with the U.S. team in 2004 and FIBA World Championship gold in 2010. Marriage to Khloé Kardashian (2009–2016) brought reality-TV exposure on Keeping Up with the Kardashians and Khloé & Lamar. In October 2015, AP reported he was hospitalized after being found unconscious at a Nevada brothel; he later sought addiction treatment.

Name notes

Lamar Joseph Odom is his birth name; he has not used a stage name. Nicknames such as "L.O." appear in basketball coverage but are not legal names. Fan sites often copy names from one another, so we checked this page against Basketball-Reference, ESPN, and Biography.com.