911 caller said Lamar Odom was doing cocaine

Lamar Odom, the NBA star and reality TV personality embraced by teammates and fans for his humble approach to fame, was on life support Wednesday, his estranged wife Khloe Kardashian by his side.

Odom was found unconscious Tuesday after four days at the Love Ranch, a brothel in Crystal, Nevada. Authorities have sought a warrant for blood evidence of drugs.

Nye County Sheriff Sharon Wehrly said a person who called 911 to report that Odom was found unconscious at a brothel said the former NBA star had been doing cocaine and had taken sexual performance enhancers.

Wehrly said an employee for Love Ranch told 911 dispatchers that Odom was found unresponsive with blood coming from his nose and mouth.

The caller said Odom had been doing cocaine and had taken up to 10 tabs of a sexual performance enhancer over three days.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson, who visited Odom at the hospital Wednesday, said doctors believe he is recovering.

“Apparently from what the doctor said, he was much better off today than yesterday. He at least has some responsiveness now,” Jackson said. “He’s got tubes in him now but we felt inspired by his presence.”

“We’re just holding hands and hoping he can bounce back,” Jackson added.

Hospital officials, however, provided no word on the condition of the 35-year-old former Los Angeles Laker and member-by-marriage of the Kardashian clan, who was found face down at the Love Ranch Tuesday afternoon, according to brothel owner Dennis Hof.

Odom started “throwing up all kinds of stuff” when the 911 operator told them to turn him on his side, Hof said.

Wehrly said investigators sought a warrant to obtain a blood sample to determine if Odom suffered a drug or alcohol overdose.

Hof said Odom arrived alone Saturday and “spent time socializing with some of my girls,” but wasn’t seen taking any illegal drugs. “He was polite and reserved, and he told multiple employees that he was there to get some privacy and spend some time relaxing,” Hof’s statement said.

“He largely kept to himself, and at no time did he engage in any drug use in the presence of anyone in the house. He did drink alcohol from our bar, and was taking some herbal sexual enhancement capsules. At his request, he spent Monday evening alone in his suite,” the statement said.

“It’s incredibly sad,” Hof told The Associated Press in a phone interview. Hof is known for his own onetime reality show, “Cathouse,” on HBO. “He just wanted to get away, have a good time and relax.”

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.

Hof, who owns several legal brothels in Nevada, told the AP that his staff had picked up Odom from a home in Las Vegas on Saturday, and he seemed “happy, he was sleeping every night,” while visiting.

Two women went to check on Odom Tuesday afternoon after not hearing from him since early morning, and found him face down and unconscious, he said.

Authorities were called to the ranch in Crystal, Nevada, about 3:15 p.m. Tuesday, the sheriff’s statement said. Odom was stabilized and taken to Desert View Hospital in nearby Pahrump, where they tried to airlift him to Las Vegas. The the 6-foot-10-inch Odom was too tall for the available helicopter, so he was driven about 65 miles instead to Sunrise Hospital & Medical Center.

Odom emerged as one of the most promising basketball talents of his generation after a difficult childhood in Queens, where his mother died of cancer when he was 12 and his father was addicted to heroin.

He spent most of his 14-year NBA career in Los Angeles with the Lakers and Clippers, becoming a fan favorite and a beloved teammate of Kobe Bryant. At the height of his basketball career, he took it even further, carrying on a whirlwind romance with Khloe Kardashian. Their huge 2009 wedding was taped for the E! network, and their marriage chronicled on the “Khloe & Lamar” show, where Odom he appeared to be a romantic partner, very much wanting more children that never came.

Two NBA championship rings and an Olympic medal couldn’t free Odom from his demons, however; his life never seemed free of struggle and tragedy, most tragically the death of his infant son in 2006. After seven years with the Lakers, he felt crushed in December 2011 when the club traded him. He played his final NBA game 18 months later, and his last years were a spiral of arrest, estrangement and widespread rumors of drug use.

Kardashian filed for divorce in 2013, citing irreconcilable differences. The divorce has not yet received final approval from a judge.

She has been by Odom’s side at a Las Vegas hospital since Tuesday evening, according to a person close to the Kardashians who spoke anonymously because she wasn’t authorized to speak to the press.

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.

The Lakers played an exhibition game in Las Vegas on Tuesday night, losing 107-100 to Sacramento. Kobe Bryant and Metta World Peace are Odom’s only remaining teammates on the roster.

World Peace clearly was distraught about Odom’s health after the game.

“There’s not one word I could say that would make sense,” World Peace told reporters, declining further comment.

Bryant left the arena without speaking to reporters.

Odom spent the best years of his career with the Lakers, winning two championship rings and the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year award in 2011.

After seven years in purple and gold, he was crushed in December 2011 when the Lakers attempted to trade him to New Orleans in a multiplayer trade for Chris Paul. He eventually went to Dallas in another deal, but was out of the NBA just two years later.

Some troubles that met Odom before and during his career appeared to worsen after he left the league, and included a no-contest plea to drunken driving shortly before his divorce.

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.

Born Lamar Joseph Odom on Nov. 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 Writers Beth Harris and Greg Beacham also contributed to this story from Los Angeles.

This story was originally published October 14, 2015 at 5:18 AM with the headline "911 caller said Lamar Odom was doing cocaine."