Lamar Odom Soaked Up Plenty of Adulation During His Time in the NBA

Lamar Odom soaked up plenty of adulation during his time in the NBA, including two championships with the Los Angeles Lakers. But on May 22 he was

Lamar Odom isn't used to jeers. The two-time NBA champion and six-time All-Star was a fan favorite throughout his 14-year career, and he's continued to soak up plenty of adulation during his time in the burgeoning world of crypto.

But on May 22, Odom was met with a different kind of reception as he entered a dinner for top investors in President Donald Trump's cryptocurrency venture.

A group of protesters gathered outside Trump's club in Sterling, Virginia, heckled Odom along with everyone entering the venue, as seen on a video the former NBA player turned crypto entrepreneur posted on social media. One protester called out, "Hypocrite!" Another held up a sign saying "Don the Con." And another group had a banner which read "No Kings."

Democrats and ethics experts have sharply criticized Trump's crypto businesses, saying they add up to a pattern of the president offering wealthy people access to and an opportunity to influence him. The dinner for 220 top purchasers of the $TRUMP meme coin is a vivid example of that, critics said, as 220 top investors got some prized time with the commander in chief.

A group of congressional Democrats sent a letter to the Justice Department urging the agency to investigate whether Trump's crypto dinner violates the federal bribery statute or the foreign emoluments provision in the Constitution. The emoluments clause bars any U.S. official from accepting “any present” of “any kind whatsoever, from any King, Prince, or foreign state.”

But White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters it's "absurd for anyone to insinuate that this president is profiting off of the presidency."

Though the White House refused to publicize the list of dinner guests, some revealed publicly that they attended. Odom posted on social media that he was "fired up" to be at the event, although the video showed only the jeers of protesters as he walked into the club.

"Think about it – what meme coin has ever done this?" Odom wrote. "None. Only $TRUMP. It's an honor to be at the table with great minds tonight to discuss the future of Web3 with President Trump. And to be able to bring some levity with my boy @coinbundle to get the crowd hyped for the President's arrival."

Odom also has a meme coin of his own, which he promoted in the post. He's also an investor in Coin Bundle, a company which creates and manages meme coins for brands and influencers.

A 14-year NBA veteran, Odom was in the spotlight for his marriage to Khloé Kardashian and appeared on her family's reality television show "Keeping Up With the Kardashians." The couple also had a show, "Khloé & Lamar." In 2015, Odom was found unconscious in a Nevada brothel after a drug overdose. The pair's divorce was finalized in 2016.