Ex-NBA star Lamar Odom admits to using prosthetic penis to cheat Olympic drug test

Former NBA Sixth Man of the Year and two-time champion Lamar Odom revealed in his upcoming memoir, "Darkness to Light," that he cheated a drug test in order to play for USA Basketball at the 2004 Olympics in Athens. 

In an excerpt of the memoir, obtained by People magazine, Odom writes that being offered a spot on the team was “one of the biggest honors in my career.” However, “the joy of being named to the twelve-man roster quickly turned to anxiety when Olympic officials informed me that I would have to pass a drug test before officially joining the team,” he writes.

Odom, who says he was "smoking weed every day that summer," then began to search online for a solution.

This Jan. 2, 2013, file photo shows Los Angeles Clippers' Lamar Odom. (Photo: Marcio Jose Sanchez, AP)

“We started googling ‘fake penises’ and studied different ways to beat a drug test,” he writes. 

So he ordered one, and though he "was paranoid it wouldn’t work,” he says he used it — filled with his trainer's urine — and passed the test.

“(An official) stuck a thermometer in the cup to gauge the temperature … satisfied that the pee was mine, said ‘Welcome to Team USA,’ ” Odom writes.

Team USA, which also featured LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony, Allen Iverson and Tim Duncan, went on to lose in the semifinals to Argentina before winning a Bronze medal — the most disappointing finish in USA Basketball's Olympic history. 

Odom, who was traded from the Miami Heat to the Los Angeles Lakers a month before the 2004 Olympics, played and started all eight games for Team USA, averaging 9.3 points and 5.8 rebounds. 

LeBron James, Lamar Odom and Stephon Marbury sit on the bench during the 2004 Olympics. (Photo: Robert Deutsch, USAT)

Odom has largely stayed out of the spotlight since his troubling end to 2015, when he was found unresponsive while spending time at a Nevada brothel after a near-fatal overdose while using cocaine and sexual performance supplements. He spent three months in the hospital after the incident. 

Odom, however, made his return to the basketball court in January with a team in the Philippines, and he's the co-captain of a team in the Big 3 league, which tips off its third season in June.

In an Instagram post last month, Odom, 39, wrote, "The reason i am making a comeback to basketball is because I REFUSE to listen to my fears but instead follow my heart. My heart, telling me that I have to play basketball one more time to show people that you can OVERCOME addiction and LIVE a happy life enjoying the little things."

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