Lamar Odom is reportedly fighting for his life after being found unresponsive in a Nevada brothel, and now, the former NBA player’s estranged father is claiming that someone may have “drugged” his son.
Odom was found on Tuesday, unconscious and with mucus-like fluid reportedly oozing from his nose and mouth. He was rushed to a hospital, where sources say he remains intubated and unable to breathe on his own.
While many close to Odom claim that he has been spiraling into depression and drug abuse after his recent divorce and the death of two close friends, Lamar’s father believes he was on the right track and would not have put himself in that situation.
A despondent Joe Odom said he was “hurt” and couldn’t understand how his son ended up overdosing.
“Somebody drugged my son. There’s no way he’s down there partying crazy like that,” he told Hollywood Life . “No way. I knew something was wrong because I’ve been calling him all day and he hasn’t been answering. I’m depressed right now — this is messed up! What can I do right now? That’s my son. I’m really hurt right now. This is the first time I’m hearing about it. Let’s give this some time. I pray that he will come out of this. I need all his fans to send him well wishes. If Khloe knows anything about this, please, tell her to call me. We all love Lamar and want him to pull through this.”
Police have not indicated that Lamar Odom may have been purposely drugged, and it is unclear if Joe Odom was legitimately accusing someone of trying to murder his son.
Lamar Odom and his father have had a difficult relationship in the past. In a 2013 interview with Radar Online , Joe Odom ripped the Kardashian family, saying that marrying Khloe was the worst mistake of Lamar’s life. Joe also claimed that the pressures of being on reality television helped lead Lamar into drug abuse.
“I think the best thing for him would be to have a clean break, divorce Khloe and as a single man try and get his life back together,” Joe Odom said.
Joe Odom’s claim that Lamar Odom may have been drugged underlies a complicated picture of the former NBA player that has emerged in the past few hours. After Odom was found unresponsive, some sources said they believe several years of chronic drug abuse had taken a toll.
But others close to Odom claimed that he was getting on the right track, and had been seen going to the gym and actively trying to get healthier.
By all accounts, Lamar Odom had been struggling in recent months after the collapse of his marriage and loss of two close friends. This summer he lost a friend, Jamie Sangouthai, who died on June 15 of an apparent drug overdose. Shortly after that, another one of Lamar’s friends, Bobby Heyward, also died of a suspected drug overdose.
Inside the tragic deaths of 2 of Lamar Odom’s good friends this year http://t.co/Eu9pxwm5te pic.twitter.com/9h9ThJ2M5W
— People magazine (@people) October 14, 2015
The latest update on Lamar Odom claims that he remains in a coma, with sources saying he may have suffered a stroke as a result of his use of herbal Viagra.
“Likely there’s brain damage, but they’re not sure how much,” the source told E! News . “Virtually every drug imaginable was found in his system.”
#LamarOdom had cocaine and opiates in his system, ‘still fighting’ after suffering strokes http://t.co/ZRQxJObkia pic.twitter.com/ssKjdk8qzK
— People magazine (@people) October 14, 2015
A report from TMZ claims that doctors found traces of crack cocaine and opiates in Odom’s system. They do not believe that the overdose was a suicide attempt.
[Picture by Michael Buckner / Getty Images]
