Lamar Joseph Odom is an American retired professional basketball player. As a member of the Los Angeles Lakers in the National Basketball Association , he won NBA championships in 2009 and 2010 and was named the NBA Sixth Man of the Year in 2011.
Odom was born in South Jamaica, Queens, New York City, New York, to Joe Odom and Cathy Mercer. His father was a heroin addict, and Odoms mother died of colon cancer when he was twelve years old. At her deathbed, Odoms mom told him Be nice to everybody. Afterwards, he was raised by his maternal grandmother, Mildred Mercer.
Source: Wikipedia