Liza Morales, the former star of Basketball Wives LA, candidly speaks about her complex history with her ex-fiancé and former NBA pro Lamar Odom. Featured in The Death & Life of Lamar Odom, a new installment of the Netflix sports docuseries Untold, the series chronicles Odom's life, including his relationship with Morales, the death of their six-month-old son in 2006, his marriage to Khloé Kardashian, and his near-fatal overdose at a Nevada brothel in 2015.
"We're always going to be family," Morales tells PEOPLE. The two met in high school in Queens, N.Y., and their initial flirtation quickly blossomed into a romance. Odom proposed to Morales when she was just 20 years old, and they began building a life together as his stardom rose in the late 1990s with his NBA draft.
However, Odom struggled with his newfound fame, and in 2001, while playing for the LA Clippers, he failed two drug tests and was suspended for several games. Their already tumultuous relationship grew more complicated. "We were always kind of on and off, trying to figure things out," says Morales, who welcomed daughter Destiny in 1998 and son Lamar Jr. in 2002 with Odom.
On June 29, 2006, everything changed. Just months after they welcomed their third child, Jayden, Morales woke up to check on their six-month-old son. What began as a routine morning became a moment she says is forever etched in her memory. Jayden had died of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), an unexplained death of an otherwise healthy infant during sleep.
"I'm the one who found him. Even now, I can still see it. That never leaves you," she pauses. "So I just kept thinking like, 'This can't be my life. This can't be happening to me.'" The loss changed both of them. Morales leaned on faith and family, slipped into depression, and sought therapy. "There was a shift in my life and in my relationship. It forever shifted," she recalls. Odom struggled and turned to drugs.
"We reacted very, very differently to grief," she says. "But grief is something I'm going to carry with me for the rest of my life and Lamar too." Years after Morales and Odom split in the wake of Jayden's death, Odom's drug problem worsened: He overdosed at the Love Ranch brothel in Crystal, Nevada, in October 2015. Morales heard the news about Odom - who by then was wed to Kardashian, though they were going through a divorce - through a text message linking to a news report.
"We literally prayed," she says. "I had known for a long time that he was struggling with heavy drug use, so I didn't know if this was it." The shock was compounded by how quickly the news spread. "I did feel shame," Morales admits. "I was really embarrassed because our family pain was 'the whole world knows now.' It was shocking."
As detailed in Untold, Odom later revealed he suffered 12 strokes and six heart attacks and was in a coma for days after reportedly taking cocaine and multiple doses of a Viagra-like supplement, according to the Los Angeles Times, citing the Nevada sheriff. Despite their estrangement, Morales was there for Odom with their children, Destiny and Lamar Jr., as he fought for his life in the hospital. The kids held his hands while he was unconscious and said, "'We need you. We forgive you.'" When he woke up, Morales believed there was a reason. "He still has a purpose," she remembered thinking. "He still has a reason for being here."
Healing took years. Even during his recovery, Odom relapsed and smoked drugs, Kardashian claims in the documentary. "I'm trying to think about like, who the f--k? If you know Lamar Odom just went through that - how would you even, why would you even give him coke? That's f--ked up," Odom said of the situation.
In the years since, Morales has made a conscious decision to prioritize peace, especially for their children. Forgiveness, Morales adds, was essential after Odom apologized. "We've come a long way," she says. "We're not best friends, but we're in a good place."
Despite Morales' support, Odom's struggles have continued. He was arrested Jan. 17 for alleged DUI and two traffic violations. He entered a 30-day program at iRely Recovery in Los Angeles, seeking help for marijuana use as a personal decision to avoid relapsing into harder, more dangerous drugs, his manager told PEOPLE. He pleaded not guilty, with a bench trial set for July 7.
"I think without a doubt, it's going to be a fight every day," Morales says. "I know since he's been out of rehab, he's been really fighting to stay on track. We're very proud of him." Looking back, she sees her relationship with Odom not as unfinished but as a chapter that shaped her. "That part of our journey just wasn't meant to be," she says. "but I still love him."
Untold: The Death & Life of Lamar Odom streams on Netflix on Tuesday, March 31.
