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Lamar Odom is sharing how he turned his pain into purpose by investing in drug treatment centers ... saying he couldn't be happier to help others and save lives around the world.

The former NBA star joined us Monday on "TMZ Live" to explain why he acquired 3 rehab centers in California, and it's pretty inspiring -- he says his goal is to help others battling addiction turn their lives around, as he did years ago.

Lamar tells us he now feels certain he found his purpose after God saved him from his nearly fatal overdose ... adding the fulfillment he's gotten as a basketball star doesn't compare to the feeling he gets from helping others.

He says it feels amazing to see and hear how he can touch and save lives ... simply by sharing his story.

You'll recall, LO overdosed at a Nevada brothel in 2015 and suffered kidney failure, heart attacks, and several strokes.

Since then, he's done a complete 180... after he himself went through rehab.

And, he has high hopes for others to do the same. As we told you, he teamed up with Christian hip hop artist Dontae Ralston and former Hall of Fame skateboarder Dennis Martinez to acquire the facilities in San Diego, El Cajon and Lemon Grove.

The 2-time NBA champ tells us the 3 centers are only the beginning and his plan is to expand all over.

We also asked him about former "Jackass" star Bam Margera, whose struggle with sobriety has him in a ton of drama with his estranged wife and son. Lamar has a word of advice for Bam and others in the grips of addiction.

Blueface is seemingly coming to grips he's set to welcome a baby soon with his on-and-off-again girlfriend Chrisean Rock ... and he's also open to naming the child after himself.

TMZ Hip Hop linked up with the controversial couple Monday at LAX, where they opened up about their family plans, and, not shockingly, they're not exactly seeing eye-to-eye on potential names.

Chrisean rejected the "Blueface Baby" idea, but did pop the lid on some of the other names she's been debating -- both Royal Blue and Blue Royal have been ringing in her ears as of late.

The couple's toned down their public incidents in recent weeks ... following Blueface's birthday romp overseas, where he was still questioning whether he was the father of Chrisean's child.

Watch the video ... they claim they're currently in a good place, but judge for yourself.

Fans have been clamoring for the couple to do something more productive on social media besides fighting, and Blueface reveals they're releasing a couple of collab tracks later this month!!!

Chrisean just dropped a new track entitled, "Time," and seemed down for recording an album with her guy. Oddly, for Chrisean, she seemed a bit camera-shy this time around.

Bad news for the dude who stormed the field at Dodger Stadium to propose to his girlfriend last week ... TMZ Sports has learned he's been hit with a 1-year ban for the stunt.

Ricardo Juarez revealed the punishment to us on Monday -- saying he can't go back to Chavez Ravine for 12 more months due to his impromptu proposal -- but, as you can imagine, he wasn't all that upset over it.

After all, he avoided time in jail ... and his girlfriend, Ramona Saavedra, did say yes to his question.

"Yeah, one year," Saavedra said of her future hubby's suspension. "But, I mean, he'll live, right?!"

Things did look a bit dire for Juarez hours after the dust had settled on the situation, though -- because the morning after he took that massive shot from the security guard, he was in a great deal of pain.

Saavedra said she actually had to take him to the hospital -- but, thankfully, he was diagnosed with nothing more than just some bad bruising and is OK now.

Juarez also revealed to us the whole thing was not planned at all -- saying he had initially envisioned poppin' the question in the stands ... but changed his mind when he saw how close they were to the field.

"He always tries to do everything with a lot of love," Saavedra said. "He shows a lot of effort."

The couple -- who've been together for 3 years -- is now planning to say "I do" in August ... and, due to all the exposure the proposal got last week, Saavedra said they've been receiving a ton of offers to help make their dream wedding come true.

She also gave us an up-close view of her diamond ring -- and it's beautiful!

Congrats, love birds ... now see ya at Dodger Stadium in April 2024?!

Pras Michel has his game face on as his federal conspiracy case kicks into high gear in Washington D.C., with some huge names -- including Leonardo DiCaprio -- set to take the stand.

We caught The Fugees rapper just as he arrived at the courthouse with his defense lawyer ... ahead of what could be a crucial day. Leo is a key witness, and he testified Monday morning after the court allowed him to use a side entrance to avoid the media.

TMZ Hip Hop broke the story back in October ... Leo is just one of the many high-profile witnesses who could take the stand before it's all said and done.

Former U.S. Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump, and ex-U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions are all named on the defense's witness list in the saga.

Pras is facing 22 years for his alleged role in a money laundering scheme with Malaysian fugitive Jho Low ... where Low's accused of acting as an agent for the Chinese government.

Leo's not a defendant, but he's been subpoenaed because the feds claim he's one of several celebs who received gifts from Low.

Bam Margera had cops at his hotel room door ahead of his recent arrest ... and police say he was booted from the ritzy hotel just hours before getting handcuffed.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... LAPD was called to the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel just before noon Wednesday ... after someone said they heard yelling from his room. We're told the caller was concerned about possible domestic violence.

Cops say they spoke to Bam and a woman with whom he was in the room ...  Bam was on the phone with his ex and things got heated.

We're told there was no sign of injury and no one was looking to make a report ... although Bam and his female friend were asked to leave the hotel, which they did.

TMZ broke the story, Burbank PD got a call around 3:45 PM for a disturbance at a Thai restaurant -- video obtained by TMZ shows the former "Jackass" star screaming at his estranged wife, Nikki Margera. Remember, she's considering a TRO because of that.

Travis Scott has cleared one major hurdle in the nightclub dispute where he allegedly damaged equipment and assaulted a sound engineer ... and while the criminal investigation remains open, we're told charges are unlikely.

Sources with direct knowledge tell us Travis settled with honchos at Nebula in NYC as well as the sound engineer he allegedly attacked. It's unclear how much Scott had to pony up, but the equipment he damaged was worth at least $12k.

While the settlement marks at least one victory for Travis, a spokesperson for the NYPD tells us, "This remains an active investigation." However, another law enforcement source says the alleged victim has stopped cooperating, which poses potential issues for the case going forward.

Of course, there's always a chance cops could use video of the alleged incident to go after Travis, though that's unlikely given the lack of cooperation from a victim.

It was last month when Travis lost his cool at Nebula, allegedly getting pissed at the sound engineer for turning down the volume during his DJ set. The sound engineer claims Travis punched him in the face and destroyed a video board during the performance.

As for the sound engineer, he did an interview from the hospital shortly after the incident, saying, "My neck is f**ked up. My arm is tingling. I have pins and needles going down it."

Lamar Odom has just invested in three drug treatment centers in California ... with the hopes of helping people turn around their lives -- just as he did with his own several years ago.

TMZ Sports has learned ... the former L.A. Lakers star teamed up with Christian hip-hop artist Dontae Ralston and former Hall of Fame skateboarder Dennis Martinez to acquire the facilities in San Diego, El Cajon and Lemon Grove.

A rep for Odom tells us the venues consist of a women's residential treatment home and two men's detox and residential treatment homes.

The buildings will be, fittingly, called "Odom Wellness Treatment Centers" -- and Lamar is vowing to be "highly involved" with the patients at the facilities. In fact, we're told Lamar is "ready to start saving lives" ASAP.

"He wants to help everyone he can," Odom's rep says. "He is thankful that he was given a second chance at his life and feels his destiny is to help others."

You'll recall, the 2-time NBA champ overdosed at Dennis Hof's Love Ranch brothel in Nevada in 2015 and suffered kidney failure, heart attacks, and several strokes.

Odom insisted to TMZ in the special "Lamar Odom: Sex, Drugs and Kardashians" that the brothel owner tried to kill him and drugged him.

Odom, fortunately, recovered from it all ... went to rehab, and eventually got his life back together -- and now, he's getting serious about helping others follow in his same path. We're told he brokered the deal with his management K&R and Gitoni.

Reggie Bush is such a huge fan of USC quarterback Caleb Williams ... he tells TMZ Sports he thinks there's absolutely no ceiling on what the signal-caller can do with a football in his hands.

"He's a great young kid," Bush told us out at Dash Radio in Los Angeles this week. "The sky is the limit for him."

Of course, Bush would know a thing or two about the topic ... he balled out at SC from 2003 to 2005 -- and then went on to have a solid 11-year NFL career.

Clearly, he believes Williams can do the same -- and even more -- telling us he's stoked to see what the 21-year-old can do following his Heisman Trophy campaign last season.

Bush says he's actually spoken to Williams in person before ... and called their meet-ups "amazing."

As for when Williams -- who transferred from Oklahoma to USC prior to last season -- eventually gets to the pros ... Bush said there isn't one team in the league that should pass on him in the 2024 NFL Draft.

"Anybody can use him!"

Rep. Don Beyer says AI technology has the potential to help save the human race ... and he thinks Elon Musk and others who say it's a threat are just trying to protect their assets.

We got the Congressman from Virginia on Capitol Hill and asked him about the Tesla honcho, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak and 1,100 others sounding the alarm in an open letter about AI.

The way Don sees it ... Elon and co. are mostly just concerned with pumping the brakes on developing large-scale language models like ChatGPT ... and he thinks the tech giants are really just trying to stifle development from competitors now that they've created their own algorithms.

Don is taking graduate-level courses on AI for a machine learning master's degree from George Mason University ... and he says he sees potential for AI to solve huge problems in medicine, biology and engineering ... and he thinks the chatter about robots writing papers for folks is just distracting from AI's real possibilities.

Another reason the open letter -- which says AI has morphed into a "dangerous race that could imperil our very existence and thus merits a 6-month moratorium on AI development to assess the risks -- didn't sway Don ... he says opponents aren't explaining any specific risks or downside to A

Mama June is putting in the work to help her daughter Anna "Chickadee" Cardwell following her scary cancer diagnosis, TMZ has learned ... stepping up despite not having much of a relationship for several years.

Family sources tell TMZ ... June and Anna were slowly working on building back their relationship about a year ago, but Anna's recent stage 4 adrenal carcinoma diagnosis has rapidly brought the pair even closer.

You'll recall, Anna spoke out in 2021 about cutting ties with June, saying she started to keep her distance when her mom was romantically involved with Mark McDaniel -- someone Anna claims sexually assaulted her when she was a kid.

We're told June immediately knew she had to be there for her daughter after the diagnosis, and feels the past is simply in the past -- she's now doing whatever she can to help, including watching Anna's kids.

Our sources say June's also been going to Anna's appointments with her ... and wants her daughter to know she has a support system.

TMZ broke the story, Anna was initially complaining about stomachaches -- going through a series of tests in January, which is when the cancer was discovered on her liver, kidney, and lung.

She's been undergoing chemo and has already lost some hair in the process -- regardless, she's still fighting hard.

Anna was present for her mom's wedding with Justin Stroud back in February, just a month after her diagnosis ... so it appears their relationship is mending fast.

DJ Drama is all for Suge Knight's pending plans to televise his life story ... but he feels Dr. Dre's narrative is even better suited for prime time!!!

We caught up with Mr. Thanksgiving outside iHeartRadio in NY, where he outlined the many platinum reasons why a Dre TV series could take off.

TMZ Hip Hop broke the story ... the incarcerated Death Row Records cofounder is prepared to begin casting for a Suge biopic series.

Obviously, Suge's saga would include Dre ... but Drama says he thinks the Doc's story is worth its own stand-alone series. As he put it, Dre's N.W.A, Death Row and Aftermath eras are all equally must-see TV!!!

Remember, Dre and the surviving N.W.A members previously told part of their story with 2015's "Straight Outta Compton" ... which won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.

Speaking of movies, Drama recently channeled Tupac Shakur from "Juice" to promote his new album, "I'm Really Like That," which dropped Friday and features Lil Uzi Vert, Jack Harlow, Rick Ross and Wiz Khalifa ... among others.

Madonna's oldest brother, Anthony Ciccone, died from several health issues ... including cancer.

According to the death certificate, obtained by TMZ, Anthony died from a combination of respiratory failure and throat cancer.

The specific type is oropharyngeal cancer, which is often caused by smoking ... and the document says tobacco use contributed to Anthony's death.

TMZ broke the story ... Anthony was getting treatment at a Michigan nursing facility when he died in February at age 66, with Madonna footing the bill. Anthony had his feeding/breathing tubes removed two days before he passed, even though he knew doing so would have dire consequences.

Madonna actually shows up on the death certificate ... that was the first name of their mother. The doc also says Anthony has since been cremated.

Remember ... Anthony reportedly suffered from alcoholism, which led to homelessness, and his relationship with his famous younger sister was challenging.

A stripper's twerkin' sesh at a Chicago Bulls game is bringing her big money ... 'cause after her dance in a suite at the United Center went viral earlier this week -- she tells TMZ Sports business has been boomin'!!!

The stripper, Pretty Rebel, went off in the middle of the Lakers vs. Bulls game on Wednesday ... and when video of her performance hit the internet -- fans couldn't take their eyes off of it.

The footage -- which showed Pretty Rebel in a red two-piece twerking and doing splits on the suite floor -- has been viewed hundreds of thousands of times!!

Pretty Rebel -- who was actually hired for her friend Jazz's birthday -- said she had a blast at the game ... and since it all went down, her phone has been blowing up!

"I've gotten so many requests for more bookings," Pretty Rebel tells us.

The United Center, meanwhile wasn't too pleased over it all, officials for the venue said her moves violated their fan code of conduct and "appropriate steps to address the matter" have been taken.

But, Pretty Rebel told us she hasn't heard anything from the team or its stadium, as of yet.

Bianca Belair could be the next John Cena, Rock or Dave Bautista -- at least, that's what wrestling legend X-Pac thinks ... 'cause he tells TMZ Sports he sees the current WWE RAW Women's champ moving from the squared circle to the silver screen!!

We spoke with the 50-year-old great out at LAX this week ... and asked the two-time Hall of Fame inductee who he believes could transition into Hollywood post-wrestling career.

After going through of list of WWE stars in his head, Pac finally figured it out ... it's Bianca.

"She's great at everything," Pac told us. "She's a good talker ... she makes her own outfits, bro."

"She's great in the ring. I'm a huge fan. That's who I'm picking."

Of course, Pac (real name Sean Waltman) doesn't see the 33-year-old starting an acting career any time soon -- Belair just made her wrestling debut in 2016 and recently became the longest-reigning Black singles champion in WWE history.

"She's still on her run," Pac added. "When she's done with her run, I think that's available for her. If she wants to."

A WWE star turned actor/actress isn't far-fetched obviously ... The Rock -- who wrestled from 1996 to 2019 -- is one of the highest-paid actors in the nation and his films have grossed over $10.5 billion worldwide.

Cena -- who still wrestles in the WWE -- has been featured in several movies and TV shows, including "Peacemaker." He also won the Action Star of the Year award at CinemaCon.

As for Dave Bautista, he solidified his spot in the Marvel Cinematic Universe with his part in "Guardians of the Galaxy" ... and has since taken on some wide-ranging roles.

"Love After Lockup" stars Monique Robinson and Derek Warner are proving why they're perfect for this reality show ... telling us they're sticking together even after his latest arrest.

Monique and Derek tell TMZ ... they are stronger than ever and she even bailed him out of jail after he was busted in Ohio for felony assault.

Derek says the arrest stems from an incident he had with a fellow inmate in 2021 when he was behind bars ... claiming he was indicted after an investigation wrapped.

While there was some speculation Monique would break up with Derek, she says he's her man, and she won't leave him over his legal issues because they're in love.

Monique tells us it was a pretty easy decision to bail Derek out of jail ... and he says he'd do the same for her were their roles reversed.

Derek has a court date next week, and says the case won't stop them from remaining on the WE tv series.

YouTube star Colleen Ballinger, best known for her Internet character Miranda Sings, is laughing all the way to the bank ... after selling her L.A. home for more than $3 mil!

Real estate sources tell TMZ ... the YouTuber/comedian unloaded her 5,000-square-foot Encino home for $3.4 million. The 5-bedroom, 5.5-bathroom pad sits on a 9,000-square-foot lot ... and it has a whole lot to offer.

The house has high ceilings, which is always awesome, and lots of natural light. It's not only got a kitchen, but a butler's pantry as well.

The primary suite has its own fireplace, outdoor terrace, walk-in closet and spa-like bath.

The backyard is cool ... a built-in BBQ center and a "cigar patio" with a fireplace. Of course, there's the obligatory pool.

Colleen listed the home back in January for $3.75 million after moving her and her fam to Santa Barbara.