Lamar Odom Checks Into Rehab

Taryn Ryder
·Writer, Yahoo Entertainment
LOS ANGELES, CA - APRIL 13: Lamar Odom attends a basketball game between the Utah Jazz and the Los Angeles Lakers at Staples Center on April 13, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Noel Vasquez/GC Images)
Lamar Odom is getting the help he needs. (Photo: Noel Vasquez/GC Images)

A little over a year after his near-fatal overdose, Lamar Odom has checked into rehab. The former NBA star is seeking treatment in San Diego.

“It was his own decision. He wanted to work on his mental and physical health for the next chapter of his life,” a source tells E! News. “He has not fallen off the wagon, but he understands the importance of maintaining his sobriety.”

A People source adds, “He plans to stay for 30 days. It’s a substance abuse program, but he was not abusing drugs when he went in. He is clean. This is a precautionary measure.”

Odom, 37, was found unconscious in a Nevada brothel in October 2015 after overdosing on a combination of drugs. Miraculously he survived, but his road to sobriety has been difficult. The former NBA star was spotted drinking again five months later, over Easter weekend.

Khloé Kardashian — who put her divorce from Odom on hold to help him recover — filed papers to end their marriage in May. Rumors swirled that Odom had suffered a relapse. Two months later, he allegedly got so wasted at the airport he had to be removed from a plane after vomiting on himself. Friends reportedly tried to stage an intervention.

In the months that followed, Odom stayed relatively under the radar. He reunited around Thanksgiving with his two children — 18-year-old Destiny and 14-year-old Lamar Jr. — and his ex-wife. Lamar was last seen in public shopping in Beverly Hills on Dec. 6.

According to TMZ, Odom has been in treatment for four days. Perhaps not so coincidentally, it was just revealed that a judge officially signed off on Khloé and Lamar’s divorce Friday.

“He wants to stay clear and focused. With the divorce from Khloé being finalized and the holidays coming up, he doesn’t want to slip up. He’s trying to take care of himself. He really wants to be better,” People‘s insider reveals. “His friends and family encouraged him to go in and he agreed and made the decision.”

This will be Odom’s second time in rehab. Khloé successfully persuaded him to go in 2012 for three weeks.