Professional athletes and celebrities are a huge part of our culture, but maybe some people just are not supposed to be in the spotlight. Recent events have shown me that some people just cannot handle having fame and fortune.
Lamar Odom was a respected athlete and NBA champion with the Los Angeles Lakers. Where did things go wrong for him? I think that growing up in New York and his up-bringing are the real problems that went on. His mother died when he was only 12 years old, and his father was a heroine addict.
In our world today, it does not matter where you are from, who you know or what you look like-anyone can become a star. Athletes are found all over the world from poor homes whose parents may have made mistakes that their children have seen.
Odom was a fantastic basketball player, but all the money and fame he received was where I think made him turn. His first couple of seasons in the NBA, he was guilty of breaking the leagues drug rules. Nobody from the league made him see anyone about the problem; he just paid a fine that any average NBA player can afford to pay.
We cannot just assume that someone who grew up in a bad part of Queens out of a broken home will know how to handle all of these things that land in your lap as a professional athlete.
Marrying a Kardashian, in my opinion, was the cherry on top. This family is known for their weird, dramatic problems and is currently making money from a nonsense reality show of them making unnecessary problems for a wealthy family. I am not blaming the Kardashians for Odom’s issues, but to mix drug problems and not being mentally prepared for the life he was given through basketball, there is no need for him to get caught up in the crazy lives the Kardashians live.
In my opinion, athletes these days are not being educated the right way. What they see is that rich and famous people can really get away with whatever they want. We have seen celebrities get away with murder and still get paid and live a lavish lifestyle.
My final thought is just that if you are lucky enough to get to play a sport you love and played your whole life and someone is willing to pay you, give you free stuff, help find you a place to live and set you up for life, there is no reason for you to make a stupid decision that can end up taking it all away.
I do not think that these people really deserve a second chance. It can be hard with all the temptations, but if you are blessed enough to get ahead in life and you get to be great in something you are passionate about, these is nobody you can blame except yourself.
