Report: ‘Wasted’ Lamar Odom vomits on plane, removed from flight
One month after reports that his family and friends feared he was “back on hard drugs” following a near-fatal reported overdose at a Nevada brothel last October, former NBA player Lamar Odom was reportedly taken off a flight at Los Angeles International Airport on Monday night “after getting wasted in the airport lounge and vomiting on the plane,” according to TMZ:
Lamar went to the Delta lounge at LAX before boarding a red-eye for NYC, and according to eyewitnesses was pounding down beers and whisky. By the time he got on the flight, we’re told he was wasted.
Two passengers in first class tell TMZ, Lamar went to 4B and sat down, but as the plane was about to pull back he bolted for the front, threw up in the galley and then walked in the bathroom and with the door open threw up again. When he came out of the bathroom, we’re told he had vomit on his clothes.
After flight attendants escorted Odom off the plane and the mess was cleaned up, he reportedly later returned and took his seat, before again getting up and making his way to the bathroom, leaving some passengers uneasy.
“Don’t you know his history?” one passenger asked a flight attendant, according to TMZ. “I don’t want a dead body at 30,000 feet.”
Odom then left the plane for good.
Additional details have been scarce. Airport Police Officer Rob Pedragon told the Los Angeles Times on Tuesday that “we never received a call about this at all,” while a Delta Airlines representative declined comment beyond saying the airline “takes customer privacy very seriously.”
Allegations of substance abuse have trailed Odom, 36, for several years, dating back to his brief 2013 disappearance, subsequent arrest on suspicion of driving under the influence, and short stint in a rehab facility. He was hospitalized last fall following what was believed to be an overdose after which cocaine was reportedly found in his system, though Odom was never charged with cocaine possession or use.
After reportedly suffering several strokes and damage to his kidneys, it took several days for Odom to resume breathing on his own and regain consciousness, another week to be able to get out of his hospital bed and begin taking his first literal steps back from the brink, and nearly three more months before he could be released from hospitalization and transferred to a private facility.
He continued to receive treatment and make strides in his recovery, though, eventually getting a clean enough bill of health to be cleared to travel across the country from Los Angeles to his native New York to attend Kanye West’s Yeezy Season 3 fashion show/”The Life of Pablo” release party at Madison Square Garden in February, his first public appearance since his hospitalization. The following month, Odom attended a Lakers game at Staples Center as the guest of his longtime teammate and close friend Kobe Bryant.
Odom was also one of many former Lakers to join Kobe on the court following the final game of his 20-year career. He told Entertainment Tonight’s Kevin Frazier that night that he’d “never been better,” that he planned to “get back on the court,” and that he appreciated all the thoughts and prayers of the fans who’d been pulling for him to return to health.
In late March, though, the two-time NBA champion and 2011 NBA Sixth Man of the Year was spotted ordering drinks in a Sherman Oaks, Calif., bar, which was reportedly extremely concerning to his estranged wife, Khloe Kardashian, who had filed for divorce in 2013 but pulled her petition during Odom’s recovery. She reportedly filed again in late May, and Odom reportedly filed his response last week.
E! News reported last week that Odom had moved into a new home and that he’s been “spending a lot of time with his children” while also “participating in an outpatient program that includes counseling and professional support” while he continues his efforts at recovery:
“He is doing well,” our source shared. “He is determined to stay on the straight and narrow [path] and wants to be the best father he can possibly be and he is doing the work required to achieve that.”
Our source added, “It is not easy, but he is focused and determined.”
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Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at devine@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter!
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