Ex-NBA player Lamar Odom gets probation in DUI case

Former NBA player Lamar Odom pleaded no contest Monday to a drunken driving charge and accepted a sentence of three years' probation and three months of alcohol abuse treatment.

In a deal with prosecutors, Odom entered the plea to one misdemeanour count of driving under the influence and was also ordered to pay $1,814 US in fines and penalties, Los Angeles city attorney's spokesman Frank Mateljan said. Odom had faced a maximum sentence of six months in jail.

The status of his suspended driver's license will be determined at a separate hearing in front of the Department of Motor Vehicles.

Odom's attorney, Richard Hutton, appeared in court to enter the plea for him. A phone message left with Hutton was not immediately returned.

The 34-year-old power forward and husband of reality TV star Khloe Kardashian is currently out of the NBA, going unsigned as a free-agent after averaging a career-low 4 points and 5.9 rebounds last season with the Los Angeles Clippers.

The sentence dealt another blow to Odom's attempts to return to the NBA and calls into question his future career.

He met with Clippers coach Doc Rivers last month, but Rivers said he was simply expressing an interest in Odom, and "it really didn't go much further than that."

Odom was arrested Aug. 30 after his Mercedes-Benz SUV was spotted weaving on a freeway in the Studio City section of Los Angeles. The California Highway Patrol said the vehicle was observed travelling in a "serpentine manner."

He has remained mostly silent since his arrest. He tweeted in September he had been "Seeing the snakes," and credited the Kardashian family for being "the ONLY ones that have been here consistently 4 me during this dark time. Only person 2 blame is myself."