What started as a loving and joyful marriage for Lamar Odom and Khloe Kardashian slowly deteriorated into a deeply turbulent chapter in both their lives. The former Los Angeles Lakers forward unraveled and gave way to multiple struggles, including a possible sex addiction.
Because of this, Kardashian feared for her own health, so she did her due diligence. Khloe stopped by “The Howard Stern Show” and opened up on the lengths she went through after learning of L.O.’s infidelity.
What Khloe endured went far beyond emotional strain
Any wife would have been traumatized and devastated upon learning her husband’s adulterous acts and Khloe was no different. She was a well-known celebrity, after all.
According to Kardashian, she was frightened of the consequences of Odom’s cheating, namely the possibility of passing on sexually transmitted diseases to her.
“Well, once I found out about all the cheating, I was very worried about STDs and I went and got checked,” Kardashian said.
When Stern asked if she was clean, Khloe answered: “I’m clean. No nothing. Thank God.”
The pair met in August 2009 at a party for Odom’s former Lakers teammate, Ron Artest. They hit it off immediately and their whirlwind romance ended in wedding vows just a month later.
At first, the extra attention he got from being married to a reality TV superstar did Odom well. He was instrumental in the Purple and Gold’s title run in 2010, solidifying himself as one of the league’s best coming off the bench.
The left-handed forward essentially averaged a double-double (10.8 points and 9.8 rebounds), while frequently stuffing the stat sheet with his multi-faceted skills (3.3 assists, 0.9 steals and 0.7 blocks).
Later, the big-time performances became the norm for Odom. He was named Sixth Man of the Year in 2010-11 after averaging 14.4 points, 8.7 rebounds and 3 assists, shooting over 53 percent from the field, including 38 percent from 3-point range.
Lamar unraveled after the trade from L.A. to Dallas
Odom’s happiest stretch of his life undoubtedly came as a Laker, which coincided with meeting Khloe in one of those offseasons.
However, the mentally fragile Lamar quickly unraveled after the Lakers tried to include him in a deal that would have sent Chris Paul to Tinseltown. The transaction did not push through, but the damage has already been done.
Feeling betrayed and disrespected, the two-time champion requested a trade. The Lakers gladly obliged, sending him to Dallas for a mere trade exception. It was all downhill from there for Odom, on the court and off it. He retired after the 2012-13 season, the same year his substance abuse and infidelity became apparent.
In a span of months, he was arrested for a DUI charge in Los Angeles (August 2013) and Khloe filed for divorce (December 2013). Odom was found unconscious and near death in a Nevada brothel in October 2015, who apparently overdosed on a cocktail of cocaine, sexual enhancement drugs, and alcohol. Khloe postponed her petition to support Odom, but it only confirmed the latter’s multiple dependencies.
In hindsight, Khloe’s fear of contracting STDs was not an isolated concern but a reflection of the chaos she had to endure during her marriage with the basketball star. Sure, it was a valid health scare, but that’s nothing compared to the instability and emotional wreckage she suffered all those years.
This story was originally published by Basketball Network on Jan 17, 2026, where it first appeared in the Off The Court section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.