Former NBA star Lamar Odom found unconscious in Nevada

Former NBA and reality TV star Lamar Odom was hospitalised after he was found unconscious Tuesday while in Nevada, authorities said.

The 35-year-old former Los Angeles Laker and one-time member-by-marriage of the Kardashian family was in a Las Vegas hospital Tuesday night and there was no immediate word on his condition, officials said.

The Nye County Sheriff’s Department was called at about 3:15pm to Love Ranch in Crystal, Nevada about 70 miles outside of Las Vegas for a report of an unresponsive man needing an ambulance, Sheriff Sharon A Wehrly said in a statement.

The 35-year-old was stabilised and taken to Desert View Hospital in nearby Pahrump, the statement said. Officials then tried to have him airlifted to Las Vegas, but the 6-foot-10-inch Odom was too tall for the helicopter that was available and he was driven by ambulance to Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center.

The emergency call came from Richard Hunter, media director for Dennis Hof, who owns the Love Ranch and other brothels in Nevada, the sheriff’s statement said.

Hof, who had his own reality series, Cathouse, on HBO, told the Los Angeles Times and KNX-AM radio that Odom had been staying at Hof's home that is attached to the brothel since Saturday.

Hof told the Times that Odom "wanted to get away from everybody, wanted to have fun."

He said two women from the brothel found Odom unconscious in the afternoon after not seeing him since early in the morning.

He said when they turned him over, “terrible stuff came out” of his mouth or nose.

Hof said Odom had been taking herbal Viagra and had drunk part of a bottle of cognac since arriving, but had no knowledge of his use of any other drugs.

Odom's hospitalisation was first reported by TMZ.

Representatives who have worked with Odom in the past did not immediately reply to requests for comment.

Odom, who won two NBA championships with the Lakers in 2009 and 2010, last played in the NBA in 2013, and saw recent reality TV fame through his four-year marriage to Khloe Kardashian.

Kardashian filed for divorce in 2013, citing irreconcilable differences.

The two were married in 2009 in a large ceremony that was taped for the E! network, following a whirlwind engagement that was also filmed.

Some troubles that met Odom before and during his NBA career appeared to worsen after he left the league, and included a no-contest plea to drunken driving shortly before his divorce. In June 2015, Odom’s best friend Jamie Sangouthai, who was also seen on the reality show, died from a drug overdose.

Odom most recently played for the Los Angeles Clippers during the 2012-13 season, his second stint with the team. He averaged 4.0 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.7 assists playing all 82 games. He became a free agent in July 2013 but no other NBA team signed him.

In February 2014, Odom signed with a Spanish team on a two-month deal but a month later he returned to the US because of a back injury. That April, he signed with the New York Knicks for what remained in the season, but he didn’t appear in their final game and was waived that July.

He also played for Miami, the Lakers and Dallas.

Odom was suspended during the 2000-01 season for violating the NBA’s anti-drug policy for the second time in eight months. During the 2010-11 season, a cousin he was close to died and Odom was a passenger in a vehicle involved in an accident in New York that killed a cyclist.

Odom played one season at Rhode Island before being drafted in the first round with the No. 4 overall pick by the Clippers in the 1999 NBA draft. He was named to the All-Rookie team and played four seasons with the team before becoming a restricted free agent and signing with Miami.

He helped the US win a bronze medal in the 2004 Athens Olympics.

Born Lamar Joseph Odom on November 6, 1979, in New York City, he was raised by his grandmother after his mother died of cancer when he was 12. His father was a drug addict.

In 2006, Odom’s 6-month-old son Jayden died from SIDS while sleeping in his crib in New York.

He has a daughter, Destiny, and a son Lamar Jr, from a previous relationship.

Dalton reported from Los Angeles. AP Sports Writer Beth Harris also contributed to this story from Los Angeles.

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