Lamar Odom’s struggles with addiction have been making tabloid and gossip website headlines since 2009. But with a July 27 essay and accompanying video for The Players’ Tribune, the retired NBA forward shared his story from his own perspective. In his words, Odom explains how a series of traumatic deaths fueled the cocaine addiction that nearly killed him. In 2015, he suffered an overdose that put him in a coma. But nearly two years later, he is in recovery, saying, “I’m sober now. But it’s an everyday struggle. I have an addiction. I’ll always have an addiction. It never goes away.���
Titled “Done in the Dark,” the piece takes a step away from the type of sensationalism usually reserved for covering drugs and addiction, especially when they’re black. Rather, Odom shares an emotionally open story that touches on the role of trauma in drug abuse and addiction.
