Lamar Odom played the role of Santa about nine months early this year ... deciding to send a bunch of gifts to a hooper in Africa -- after he was inspired by the way the man was training with beat-up gear.
The baller's name is Nkwain Kennedy, and he's gained hundreds of thousands of followers on social media the past year or so after posting inspirational videos of himself working out with destroyed basketballs and tattered kicks.
A rep for Odom says the ex-LA Lakers star caught one of Kennedy's vids recently while scrolling through Instagram .