Former 6th man of the year, Lamar Odom, who celebrates his birthday today, was a key player in the Los Angeles Lakers’ back-to-back championship runs in 2009, and 2010. Odom also was part of the 2004 Team USA Olympics basketball team.
This last fact brings us to one of the funnier stories of his career. In his memoir, ‘Darkness to Light’, Odom admits to having used a fake penis to pass a drug test in order to make Team USA for the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece.
“The joy of being named to the 12-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. I got a call from USA Basketball that a drug tester would be coming to my house in a few days to administer the screening … There was absolutely no way I was going to pass. I’d been smoking [marijuana] every day that summer. Panic set in.
We started googling ‘fake penises’ and studied different ways to beat a drug test. After ordering a prosthetic penis to circumvent the test, Odom said he was “paranoid it wouldn’t work” but he still went through with the plan. He got his trainer, who was drug free, to urinate into the reservoir inside the fake penis. Then the former NBA champion unzipped his pants, pulled out the fake penis and emptied the urine into the testing container.
The fake penis maneuver was successful and Lamar Odom was part of the 2004 Olympics USA Basketball Team. The team though came short of winning gold after losing to Argentina in the semi-final.
