Lamar Odom said recalling the past is ‘like swimming in a quagmire of trauma
The two-time NBA champion, who dribbled into the Kardashians’ reality while concealing a drug habit, is now a recovering addict nearing 60 days of recovery as we speak on March 24. (Odom completed a 30-day rehab term in February, following an arrest for driving under the influence the previous month.
Odom has pleaded not guilty, and the bench trial is set on July 7. “Every recovering addict knows that you want to kind of stay away from things that were traumatizing in your life,” Odom says in an interview with USA Today.
The 46-year-old, who has been sober since January 28, appreciates the opportunity to voice his thoughts, but revisiting the traumas and misdeeds in interviews comes at a cost.
(His present companion has not been confirmed.) “And I attempt to get out of it, but the story keeps pulling me back in.
But I know I’m bigger than this scenario, and I aim to help a lot of others by sharing my story. Not just via the story, but in everyday life, we may all conquer addiction.”
Lamar Odom believes a day at a Nevada brothel might be ‘a hit,’ but is concerned they may ‘want to finish the job.’
On Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2015, Odom was discovered unresponsive at a now-demolished brothel about 80 miles outside Las Vegas. “They need to hurry, please,” a person at the Love Ranch urged in a 911 call, “because he’s got blood hanging out of his nose and white stuff coming out of his mouth. They can’t wake him up.”
Odom spent nearly three months rehabilitating at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. He claims he had 12 strokes and six heart attacks, but he eventually overcame doctors’ predictions that he would never walk or speak again.
At the time of the event, Love Ranch staff told the Nye County Sheriff’s Office that Odom had used cocaine the day before and taken many sexual performance-enhancing tablets. However, Odom says he did not overdose on cocaine.
“It was like a hit,” Odom describes what happened at the Love Ranch. “Obviously, they missed. I’m not sure if they want to finish the task.
Kobe Bryant advised Khloe Kardashian to undergo high-risk surgery, which had a 10% chance of success.
In the documentary, Kardashian discloses that Odom’s lungs collapsed after his hospitalization. According to the host of the “Khloe in Wonder Land” podcast, Odom’s medical staff urged him to have surgery with a 10% chance of success or risk death on the operating table.
“Odom’s former Lakers colleague, the late Kobe Bryant, “helpedme make the choice to get the surgery,” Kardashian says in “Untold.” “We got his lungs to function, and he did not die. But he went into a coma.
“He’s been more than a brother to me,” Odom describes his bond with Bryant, who died in a helicopter crash in 2020.
My relationship with him was quite unique, and I sort of accepted and adopted the mamba mentality. And the mamba attitude is putting your best foot forward every day.”
Lamar Odom and KKhloeKardashian haven’t communicated, despite her participation in the documentary.
Odom says he hasn’t spoken to or seen Kardashian, whom he divorced in 2016, since their televised reunion for Hulu’s “The Kardashians” in February 2025. Their meeting was occasionally unpleasant and tense. Kardashian responded to Odom’s overt friendliness with uneasy sentiments about their turbulent past.
“To me, it didn’t really go well,” Odom admits. “It felt like she was on attack mode, but I can’t really invalidate her feelings, and I won’t. I nearly felt sorry for her as I walked away.
Although I know she’s fine and has children (True and Tatum Thompson, with ex Tristan Thompson), I appreciate the pain I caused her.
Kardashian and Odom had a brief courtship; they married 30 days after meeting in 2009.
“It’s a period of time that I wouldn’t change,” Odom says. For the most part. “The only thing I’d change is probably my actions. But that was part of my book, part of my history, and it’s not going anywhere.