After an offseason of tragedies, Lakers forward Lamar Odom is off to one of the best starts of his eight-year career. John W. McDonough/SI

By Arash Markazi

Sportsman. For the time being, let's focus on the second syllable of the word. It embodies what Lamar Odom became this past summer. It wasn't a transformation that the 27-year-old Lakers forward necessarily wanted to undertake, but he really had no choice. His options, much like his life this summer, seemed limited.

Odom was in New York in June when his life was turned upside down. He was back in his hometown to bury his aunt when he was slapped with the shocking revelation that he had lost his seven-month-old son Jayden in the middle of the night as he lay in his crib. Moments after laying his aunt to rest, Odom was cradling the lifeless body of his son in the hospital for hours, unwilling to put him down for the final time. A week later, while Odom was strolling through the streets of Queens, still trying to make sense of everything, he was robbed at gunpoint.

"When this kid robbed me, he shot a gun at me, and let's just say it was too close," he said. "When this happened to me, I said, 'Wow, we are so far from God as a people and as a community.' Somebody has to do something about this."

Odom took it upon himself to be that somebody, starting a religious clothing line called "Son of Man," which has paintings of religious figures and passages emblazoned on T-shirts and jeans. His hope is that the images and verses on the shirts will serve to inspire today's youth more than the Scarface and Che Guevara gear that has permeated through his old neighborhood.

"It's so crazy. When you think of rap and hip-hop, you think of young black men," he said. "Maybe if I give them something they can identify with a little bit more than the usually description of Jesus, which is far away from us. Maybe if these kids can identify with him, it will bring them a little closer."

It's the kind of words and actions that are light years from the child who tearfully admitted to smoking marijuana after violating the league's drug policy five years ago. Those days seems like a distant memory to the man these days.

"When you grow up as a man, it helps you as a player," said Odom, who's averaging nearly 20 points, 9 rebounds and 6 assists for the Lakers this season. "When I went through what I went through this summer, basketball was the furthest thing from my mind. But just being here and running up and down the court with the guys, I've already seen how it's going to help me, whether it's dealing with officiating or dealing your teammates. It just so happens that we're a very young team, so I'm going to be called upon to be a leader."