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Lamar Odom: 'That trade from the Lakers basically ended my career and purpose'

Related Topics: Lamar Odom, Los Angeles Lakers

wasn't in a good place emotionally going into the 2011-12 season.

He had just won the NBA’s sixth man of the year award during his seventh season with the Lakers and wasn’t far removed from winning back-to-back league championships with the team.

But things were not well with Odom off the court during that off-season. The day after he attended the funeral of his 24-year-old cousin — who Odom said was murdered — he was a passenger in a traffic accident that resulted in the death of a 15-year-old boy.

Around the same time, Odom's support system was stripped away from him.