Ex-basketball star Lamar Odom leaves hospital after drug-fuelled binge, airlifted to rehab facility

Los Angeles: Former NBA player Lamar Odom was released from a Las Vegas hospital on Monday after showing signs of improvement following his drug-fuelled binge in a Nevada brothel, a report said.

E! Online entertainment news website said Odom, who was left fighting for his life after collapsing at the Love Ranch brothel last week, was being moved to a medical facility nearer his Los Angeles home.

The decision came after doctors judged Odom, 35, was stable enough to be moved after regaining consciousness last week and continuing to recover through the weekend.

The report said the two-time NBA champion remained on dialysis because of a kidney problem but had passed a swallowing test and could breathe independently. E! said Odom was communicating using hand signals.

Earlier on Monday, a family statement said Odom was improving steadily.

“Each day Lamar is getting stronger and reaching significant milestones in his recovery,” the statement from Odom’s aunt JaNean Mercer said.

“We are committed to remaining by his side as a family for our champion, who we love immensely.”

There has been an outpouring of support from Odom’s former NBA teammates and his estranged wife Khloe Kardashian has been at his side.

Odom won NBA titles with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2009 and 2010 and married Kardashian in 2009 in a splashy televised wedding.

His connection to the celebrity Kardashian clan widened his fame, and while she filed for divorce in 2013, the split has reportedly never been finalized.

A source told Us Weekly: “Khloe and her mother Kris [Jenner> decided to move Lamar to a rehab center in L.A. so they can all be closer to him.

“He’s still getting better little by little. The doctors are starting to talk about plans for what happens when he gets out and that’s how rehab came up, but he still has a ways to go.

“Khloe is committed to staying with him. Everyone is so happy he’s alive but taking it very carefully . It’s a slow process but Khloe is there every step of the way, and her family is supporting her and Lamar’s family is there too. It’s all been so draining and emotional.

While Khloe’s family are supporting Lamar, his former teammate Metta World Peace, has hit out at the Kardashians for taking over at the hospital.

He told the Los Angeles Daily News: “The only Kardashian that needs to be there is Khloe. Not every Kardashian needs to be around. They need to keep it simple, so Lamar’s children can see him whenever they want to see him. They’re waiting in line to see their own.”

Lamar’s children Destiny, 17 and Lamar Jr, 13, and their mother, his ex-girlfriend Liza Morales, flew to Nevada from New York to be with him after his collapse.

AFP