Former NBA All-star Lamar Odom is “living cleaner” according to new reports, despite suffering a health scare early Sunday, November 5, 2017 morning when he collapsed to the ground at a Los Angeles nightclub.
The incident occurred at about 2 a.m. while the former NBA star was at a VIP booth at the celebrity hotspot Bootsy Bellows, according to TMZ, which obtained a video of Odom on the ground.
A rep for the ex-Laker attributed Odom’s collapse to dehydration and assured he is currently “doing well.”
“He was dehydrated and had been in an intense workout earlier in the day,” the rep told E! News in a statement. “It was also very hot in the club.”
The video shows men helping Odom onto a couch after the collapse. The ex-Laker appears to be conscious throughout the video.
Odom’s past issues with substance abuse are well-documented.
If you remember on October 13, 2015, after being traded from the Championship Lakers, then becoming a free agent after a brief stint with the Dallas Mavericks and LA Clippers, Odom was discovered unconscious at the Love Ranch, a brothel in Crystal, Nevada. He was in a coma and placed on life support in a hospital in Las Vegas for four days before regaining consciousness. He had suffered several strokes and kidney failure. He was transferred from Las Vegas to a Los Angeles hospital by medical transport.
In August 2016, reports emerged that he was partying – again – with strippers, which is what he was doing when he overdosed and nearly died in 2015.
Since that incident, Us Weekly reported that Odom is “the best he has been in many months.”
In fact, Lamar Odom made a public declaration of his conversion to Christianity, thanking Jesus for keeping him alive.
“Nowadays I’m doing the best I can in walking with the Lord,” the two-time NBA champion wrote on Instagram earlier this week, thanking the founding pastor of the church, Dr. A.R. Vernon, who led him in prayer. “I got saved at The Word Church this weekend.”
But Lamar is no stranger to substance use and abuse. In the 2000 – 2001 NBA season, Lamar was a starter for the LA clippers averaging 17.2 points. But in March of that season, Odom was suspended for five games for violating the NBA’s drug policy. In the following season, he was suspended in November for violating the drug policy again, his second offense in eight months. He admitted to using marijuana after the suspension.
Over a decade later, it looks like Lamar is finally getting the message and is