In October 2015, Lamar Odom, the former NBA star known for his time with the Los Angeles Lakers and Clippers, as well as his high-profile marriage to Khloé Kardashian, suffered a near-fatal overdose at a Nevada brothel. Nearly a decade later, Odom is opening up about that harrowing night, his relationship with Kardashian, and his lifelong struggle with addiction in Untold: The Death & Life of Lamar Odom, which premiered Tuesday on Netflix.
The documentary — the latest installment in Netflix’s Untold sports documentary series — has left some viewers confused about whether Odom survived the incident. Here’s what Odom and Kardashian revealed about his 2015 overdose, his battle with addiction and the meaning behind the documentary’s title.
Odom was found nonresponsive at a now-demolished brothel on Oct. 13, 2015
According to USA Today, Odom was found unresponsive at the Love Ranch, a now-demolished brothel outside Las Vegas, on Oct. 13, 2015.
“They need to hurry please,” a caller from the brothel said in a 911 call, CBS News reported in October 2015. “He’s got blood coming out of his nose, white stuff coming out of his mouth. They can’t get him to wake up.”
Odom was rushed to a hospital, where he was intubated, TMZ reported at the time. While in a coma, he had 12 strokes and six heart attacks — medical professionals later described his survival as a miracle. He spent about three months recovering at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, according to USA Today.
Employees at the Love Ranch said Odom had used cocaine in the days leading up to the incident and had taken multiple sexual performance-enhancing pills. Odom, who has acknowledged struggling with cocaine addiction at the time, maintains he did not overdose on the drug.
“I didn’t have any cocaine to take to the brothel that day,” he told USA Today. “I just signed these divorce papers, and I thought I was going to live out a young addict mind’s dream and go to this brothel with some cocaine and go all out that night. And that just wasn’t the case.”
Odom added that he believes he may have been drugged.
“It was like a hit,” he said. “Obviously they missed. I don’t know if they want to finish the job.”
Odom’s estranged father, Joe, was ready to pull the plug on the NBA star at the hospital
In Untold, Kardashian recalls learning about Odom’s overdose and immediately “screaming,” Entertainment Weekly reported. reported. The two were estranged at the time — his addiction, she says in the documentary, had brought a darkness into their home — and she had recently filed for divorce. Still, Kardashian dropped everything to be by his side.
She rushed to a Las Vegas hospital, where she encountered Odom’s estranged father, Joe, who was prepared to take him off life support.
“I assume, [he] thought he’s now the beneficiary to Lamar,” Kardashian says in the episode, per Entertainment Weekly. “And Joe just said, ‘Don’t put him on life support. Turn those machines off.’”
He ultimately relented — but only after Kardashian gave him $100 and a new pair of Nikes.
“And Joe left and never came back,” she says.
While Kardashian held out hope that Odom would wake up, his children, Destiny Odom and Lamar Odom Jr., began preparing for the worst, People reported.
“When we went into the hospital room, it was hard seeing him all tubed up and everything,” Destiny says in the episode. “He was so swollen. I remember how swollen he was.”
She remembers holding his hand and telling him everything she was feeling.
“I was like, ‘You can’t leave. Like we still have memories to make,’” she says.
Odom Jr. says in the episode that doctors told him his father might still be able to hear them, so he played clips of cheering crowds from his basketball games.
Days later, Odom woke up — only to face a long and difficult road to recovery.
“I couldn’t control my bowels,” he says in Untold. “I’m a two-time champion. I’m Lamar Odom — can’t walk, can’t talk. They’re coming in to check my diaper. My wife — she helped clean me up.”
Odom is almost 60 days sober
After leaving the hospital, Odom spent much of the next decade in and out of substance use. But following a January arrest on suspicion of driving under the influence, the former NBA star completed a 30-day rehab program and is now approaching 60 days of sobriety, according to USA Today.
Odom credits that progress in part to his close bond with the late Kobe Bryant, Complex reported.
“No alcohol, no pot, no marijuana,” Odom told Page Six. “And I’m just [continuing] to grow mentally and spiritually. I do try to be my best self and practice the Mamba mentality, which has been passed down to me by my late brother [Kobe Bryant].”
Odom said Bryant was by his side during his 2015 hospitalization, and though he wasn’t aware of the visit at the time, it has since taken on deep meaning.
“To know that he was there… when I’m reflecting on it, I think that’s probably what pulled me through. The love that I was getting from everybody,” he said. “It’s always good to have support, and of course support from your brothers.”
Now, Odom says he’s focused on personal growth. “I’m trying to read a lot more [and] sharpen up my brain,” he said. “When I woke up [from the 2015 coma], they told me I would never walk and talk again. … And so, every day is a blessing.”
Untold: The Death & Life of Lamar Odom is now streaming on Netflix.
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