As former NBA star Lamar Odom fights for his life following an apparent drug overdose, ex-wife Khloe Kardashian arranged to have his father Joe, as well as his two children Destiny and Lamar Jr., and their mother Liza Morales, join her at the Las Vegas hospital he remains in a coma.
The 35-year-old basketball player was found unconscious inside a Las Vegas area brothel over the weekend.
According to several reports, Morales and her two children left New York City on Wednesday, while Joe Odom was photographed earlier in the day outside Sunrise Hospital.
Odom and Morales, who is of Puerto Rican descent, met in the ninth grade and started dating two years later, but never married. In addition to Destiny, 17, and Lamar Jr, 13, the former couple also had son Jayden Odom, who died at six and a half months in 2006 from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, which prompted basketball player to almost quit the game.
In March 2013, Morales wrote an open letter to the Daily Beast in which she opened up about how she received the news that her ex-boyfriend was marrying Kardashian.
"I don’t think I’ll forget the tight knot I felt in the pit of my stomach the morning I received the text message with three simple words on the screen. It read 'I’m getting married' and it was from the man I’d spent more than 10 years of my life with," she wrote, adding that she was shocked Odom and Kardashian would marry after a four-week courtship.
An unverified Twitter account reportedly belonging to Morales posted a cryptic quote by Tupac Shakur soon after news broke that Odom was hospitalized.
“You see you wouldn’t ask why the rose that grew from the concrete had damaged petals. One the contrary we would all celebrate its tenacity. We would all love its will to reach the sun. Well; we are the roses, this is the concrete, and these are my damaged petals,” the quote reads.
According to E! Online, Lamar Odom was expected to appear in front of a New York judge this week as part of his ongoing custody case with Morales.
While his relationship with Kardashian threw his life into the tabloids, the reality television notoriety was only a small part of his life largely spent on a basketball court.
Lamar Odom won two NBA championships with the Los Angeles Lakers and an award as the league's top reserve during his 14-year pro career, adding to a trophy case that also includes an Olympic medal and a FIBA world championship medal.
His versatility got him through a truncated college career into the NBA, where he played for four franchises and became known as an invaluable teammate who repeatedly sacrificed personal statistics for team success.
"All he cared about was playing basketball," said Knicks star Carmelo Anthony, a longtime friend. "He wanted to give back to the league. Every time I talked to him, that's all he talked about."
Anthony, another New York native and top-flight prospect born three years later, looked up to Odom's multifaceted game.
"L.O. was a point forward," Anthony said. "A lot of people will tell you he was one of my favorite players coming out of high school, one of the best high school players I've seen as a kid."
Hospital authorities would not comment on the condition of the former NBA forward, but the Rev. Jesse Jackson was among his visitors Wednesday. Jackson said Odom was on life support and improving.
"Apparently from what the doctor said, he was much better off today than yesterday. He at least has some responsiveness now," Jackson said. "He's got tubes in him now, but we felt inspired by his presence."
Lamar Odom was found face-down and alone Tuesday after spending four days at the Love Ranch, a legal Nevada brothel.
Odom started "throwing up all kinds of stuff" after a 911 operator told them to turn him on his side, Love Ranch owner Dennis Hof told The Associated Press in a phone interview. Odom had "spent time socializing with some of my girls," but wasn't seen taking any illegal drugs, Hof said.
In a recording of a 911 call, Hof's spokesman Richard Hunter said Odom was breathing but in a "deep sleep" and had fluid coming from his nose and mouth.
"He sounds like he's snoring a little bit. But he is breathing consistently," Hunter said.
It was Odom's first visit to the Love Ranch, and he told employees he did cocaine before he arrived Saturday, Hunter said.
Odom also took up to 10 tabs of an over-the-counter sexual performance enhancer over the course of his stay, Nye County Sheriff Sharon Wehrly said at a news conference. Sheriff's Detective Michael Eisenloffel described the enhancers as supplements and said Odom bought them at the brothel.
With a search warrant, authorities took a blood sample from Odom early Wednesday to determine what was in his system. The results could take weeks, Eisenloffel said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Trending
