Two-time NBA champion Lamar Odom is expanding his business portfolio with a venture into the senior living businesses space inspired by his grandmother. He has started Odom Senior Care after struggling to find a new home for his 96-year-old grandmother who lives alone in her Bronx apartment.
“Happy to announce my new venture @odomseniorcare,’ the 43-year-old athlete said in an Instagram post. “Providing Affordable and Best-In-Class Care for Seniors.”
He believes the current senior living market is way too expensive for people. In this regard, his vision is to provide luxurious, yet decent homes for the aged at pre-negotiated rates, TMZ reports. For this new project, the NBA legend is partnering with Regency Palms Senior Living in Oxnard and Long Beach.
“Lamar is on a journey to help simplify this process for all seniors, and is providing long-term assisted living and memory care solutions that provide the best value for the money,” the company’s website notes.
According to TMZ, he already has two facilities in SoCal and is planning to expand to reach his ultimate goal of providing seniors with pre-negotiated rates in 1,000 communities. The start of Odom’s latest venture comes after the launch of the Odom Recovery Group to help people find sobriety.
In April this year, Odom acquired three drug rehabilitation centers in California to help people beat addiction. The NBA champion’s investment in the rehab centers comes seven years after his near-death experience at Nevada’s Love Ranch brothel. The 43-year-old was battling drug addiction and depression at the time.
Per TMZ, the investment in the three-drug treatment centers is a collaborative effort between Odom as well as Christian hip-hop artist Dontae Ralston, and skateboarding legend Dennis Martinez. The facilities are located in San Diego, El Cajon, and Lemon Grove.
Odom’s representative told the news outlet that the facilities are made up of a residential treatment home for women as well as two detox and residential treatment homes for men. The facilities will also be named the “Odom Wellness Treatment Centers.” The former Los Angeles Lakers star also said he will be “highly involved” with individuals who visit the facilities to seek treatment. Odom also reportedly said he is “ready to start saving lives.”
“He wants to help everyone he can,” his rep said. “He is thankful that he was given a second chance at his life and feels his destiny is to help others.”
In October 2015, Odom had a brush with death after he was found unresponsive in a Nevada brothel following an alleged drug overdose. The October incident left him in a coma and on life support. He also suffered kidney failure, heart attacks, and multiple strokes.
However, following his recovery, Odom claimed he was drugged the night before he was found unresponsive in the brothel. “I didn’t take anything that night,” Odom said in an interview on Addiction Talk. “I was really hurt and almost in some sense afraid because somebody just tried to take my life.”
