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Lamar Odom is safe after accidentally crashing into two parked cars in Los Angeles recently.
The retired NBA star, 43, was driving his Merecedes-Benz around 3 a.m. on Monday, September 11, when he hit two parked cars in the Northridge area, TMZ reports. The Los Angeles Police Department asked if he’d been drinking and Odom explained that he has been sober for several years and now owns recovery clinics. No sobriety tests were conducted. Odom and the owners of the cars exchanged insurance information before the police left.
Odom’s rep, Gina Rodriguez, told People on Sunday, September 17, that the retired athlete was reaching for his cell. “His phone fell and it dropped on the floor and when he reached out for it, his arm went with it,” Rodriguez told the outlet.
She added that Odom “was totally fine” despite being “a little shaken up” after his three airbags were released.
The rep noted that the authorities asked if Odom was sober because they “knew his history” with addiction.
Odom has been open about his struggle to get sober. In January’s TMZ Presents: Lamar Odom: Sex, Drugs & Kardashians special, he detailed being in a “dark place” as his basketball career slowed down and his marriage to Khloé Kardashian fell apart.
“Drugs — that was my girlfriend. I had a wife and cocaine,” he said. “For part of my marriage, I had to tell [Khloé]. You can’t hide that forever. … She was hurt, but Khloé was a good wife. She wasn’t dismissive or [saying], ‘Get away from me.’ … She was protective and wanted to protect me even more. She [stood by me]. I mean behind the scenes, I put her through some s—t. Like s—t that y’all don’t know. … The stories that y’all don’t know is, like, really crazy.”
Kardashian, now 39, and Odom married in September 2009 after just one month of dating, and they split in 2013. The divorce was paused in 2015 after Odom went to the Bunny Ranch in Nevada and nearly died following an overdose. Kardashian was in charge of his medical care at the time.
“I think if I would have passed away that day or those nights, I think [my life] would be considered a tragedy. But the triumphant part is that I pulled through it,” Odom said in the doc. “You know, I’m stronger than ever. I’m more focused than I ever was in my championship years. I’ve kind of got the same focus. I don’t live life like a druggie anymore. … I’m so blessed to be here and it’s a thin line between not being here and being here. … You name me one person who got off drugs and things got worse?”
Odom, whose divorce from Kardashian was finalized in 2016, explained that he now has “control” over both his sex and drug addiction.