Lamar Odom's Downward Spiral: Inside Athlete's Struggle With Drug Use, Divorce & NBA Drama
Oct. 14 2015, Updated 2:18 p.m. ET
Lamar Odom is fighting for his life in a Nevada hospital after being found unconscious at the Love Ranch brothel on Tuesday afternoon. But the former NBA star has long been struggling, facing drug addiction, his recent divorce from ex Khloe Kardashian and the loss of two of his closest friends to overdoses in 2015. Click through RadarOnline's gallery to get his full story.
Lamar Odom was rushed to the hospital today, RadarOnline.com has learned, after a three-day booze and pill bender at the Love Ranch brothel in Pahrump, Nevada.
But the 35-year-old has been struggling for some time, as his drug use has been a notable problem throughout his career.
It started innocently enough. The troubled NBA star was arrested in 1997 for solicitation of a prostitute in Las Vegas when Odom had moved to Las Vegas to play basketball for the UNLV Runnin’ Rebels. While out with a friend that summer, “Lamar approached a woman he believed to be a prostitute,” a source with knowledge of the situation told RadarOnline.com. “When Lamar solicited her for sex, he was immediately arrested because the woman was actually an undercover cop, and was conducting a sting in the area. He used bad judgment, and was only goofing around with his friend. Lamar was 17 at the time, and was trying to show off for his friends.”
In 2001, he was suspended from playing with the Los Angeles Clippers after failing two drug tests after testing positive for marijuana.
Multiple sources familiar with the situation claim Odom has had a drug problem for the past several years and even went to rehab in August 2012, under pressure from the Kardashian clan.
Odom's reported drug use was also cited as a major reason for his split from Khloe Kardashian.
As RadarOnline.com previously reported, in the days after Kardashian kicked Odom out of their Tarzana, Calif. mansion, she hired someone to search the house for any drugs that the NBA player might have left behind.
In 2013, drug testers for the NBA took at least six samples from Odom throughout the season — many of which showed the 33-year-old had been using the powerful painkiller OxyContin – but he wasn't tossed out of the league because he had a valid prescription.
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That same year, Odom rejected intervention attempts by teammates from the Los Angeles Clippers and his former team the Los Angeles Lakers at a Los Angeles hotel.
After some coaxing, Odom was expected to release a statement and confirm his addiction to prescription drug medication — Oxycontin and Ambien — but then, "he abruptly bolted from the hotel and left the premises," a source shared.
Things took a serious turn when Odom's best friend, Jamie Sangouthai, died of an overdose in June 2015.
Just one week later, Bobby Heyward, a 30-year-old pal to both Odom and Kardashian, died from an overdose.
Friends and family reportedly urged Odom to seek treatment following the two tragedies.
On Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2015, the former athlete was found unconscious at the Love Ranch brothel in Pahrump, Nevada, after a three-day booze and pill bender.
Someone on the scene called 911 at roughly 3:20 p.m., and Odom was taken to a local Pahrump hospital, where he was intubated before being helicoptered to the Sunrise Hospital in Las Vegas.
After hearing the news, ex-wife Khloe has reportedly flown to be by his side.
According to reports, Odom is breathing with the assistance of machines and remains in critical condition.