Kobe Bryant might be one of the greatest Laker ever. Over the span of a two-decade career, the Black Mamba managed to win 2 scoring titles, an MVP, 5 championships, and 2 Finals MVPs, among a long list of other accolades.

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Throughout Kobe’s career, he shared the locker room with some of the franchise’s biggest names – Shaquille O’Neal, Derek Fisher, Pau Gasol, and Dwight Howard, among several others. One teammate people often forget is Lamar Odom.

Also Read: Kobe Bryant, Who is 6ft 6in Tall, Thought he was Pele When he Played Soccer in Italy

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Odom dawned the Purple & Gold for 7 seasons, all under Bryant’s leadership. In those 7 years, the Lakers made 3 trips to the Finals, winning 2 of them.

Kobe Bryant was willing to offer help to clear Lamar Odom’s six-figure gambling debt

Not only was Bryant a good teammate to Odom on the court, off the court as well, but the 6-foot-6 guard also went out of his way to help the latter.

Apart from missing out on a pre-season clash to visit Lamar in the hospital back in 2015, the 18-time All-Star even agreed to offer him help to clear a gambling debt.

A few years ago, the 2011 Sixth Man of the Year disclosed that he had a gambling debt north of six figures. On the All The Smoke podcast, L.O. revealed that Bean was willing to offer help when he was approached.

“I had been gambling. And, I had an old debt that got a little too steep for where I was at that time. It was getting tight. And, if you’re in a bad situation, especially about some money, he ain’t the one that you’re gonna wanna call.

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He was just, ‘Have your people call my people, and then we’ll figure it out. And that was one before the last time I spoke to him.”

Lamar’s stats as a Laker

During his stint as a Laker, Odom was not one of the top 2 best players. However, his contributions to the California-based organization would go much beyond than what the stat sheet showed.

Over 519 regular season games, the 6-foot-10 forward averaged 13.7 points, 9.5 rebounds, and 3.7 assists per game.

During the playoffs of the LAL’s two championship seasons, the southpaw came off the bench and averaged a solid 11 points, 8.9 rebounds, and 1.9 assists per game.

Also Read: Kobe Bryant and His Wife Initially Took To Fame Terribly, Jeff Pearlman Once Revealed

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