Lamar Odom ‘bummed out’ by phone call day before he was found at brothel

By Pashtana Usufzy

Thursday, Oct. 15, 2015 | 2 a.m.

On a dirt road in Crystal, Nev., two signs immediately greet visitors, offering “liquor & ladies 24/7” and pointing down the road toward a brothel known as the Love Ranch.

Outside is mostly dirt, patio furniture and small palm trees, but Wednesday night, a collection of news vans, cameramen and reporters descended on the brothel in the desert area about 20 miles north of Pahrump.

It was here that 35-year-old former basketball star Lamar Odom was found in what seemed to be “a deep sleep,” breathing but unresponsive Tuesday afternoon, according to 911 recordings and the Nye County Sheriff’s Office.

Odom, the estranged husband of TV star Khloe Kardashian, arrived at the brothel alone and spent four days "socializing with some of my girls and staff" before asking to be left alone Monday night, according to a statement from establishment owner Dennis Hof.

When workers returned Tuesday afternoon to see Odom, they quickly realized something was wrong, said Richard Hunter, the media director for Hof’s Bunny Ranch brothel.

The women called for Hunter, who was told by a 911 dispatcher to turn Odom onto his side, according to the 911 call.

When Odom was turned, a white substance came from his mouth and was around his nose, and there was a yellow substance that appeared to be mixed with blood, Hunter said.

Odom told the workers he had taken “a little bit of cocaine” Saturday before arriving to Crystal, and while at the brothel he drank from a bottle of Cognac and visited the bar, Hunter said.

According to Hunter, Love Ranch workers are trained to "stop the party" if drugs are seen, and Odom was aware of the brothel's strict anti-drug policy.

This was Odom's first visit to the Love Ranch, and Hunter said he was staying in its "best VIP suite" on an open-ended reservation, and was accompanied by two women. The total cost for a stay like his would be five figures or more, which would have been negotiated privately between the women and Odom, he said. The prostitutes are independent contractors who get 50 percent of the price.

Inside the room where he was found sits a large bed and a flat-screen TV, a chaise lounge and an armchair.

The suite has been cleared of any personal items, except for a basket of women’s clothing near the washer and dryer.

Hunter called the Nye County Dispatch Center about 3:15 p.m. Tuesday to report a medical emergency and request an ambulance, according to a statement from the sheriff's office.

The sheriff's office had also received a call from a brothel worker who requested an ambulance and indicated Odom had blood coming from his nose.

The sheriff's office declined to comment on Odom's condition.

He was not seen taking any drugs at the brothel but had taken about 10 sexual enhancement herbal supplements, at least some of which were provided by the brothel, according to Hunter.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a warning in June 2013 about Reload, the supplements Hunter said were found in Odom's room.

Lab tests showed they contain sildenafil, an ingredient also found in the FDA-approved Viagra drug.

"This undeclared ingredient may interact with nitrates found in some prescription drugs such as nitroglycerin and may lower blood pressure to dangerous levels," according to the FDA statement. "Men with diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or heart disease often take nitrates."

Police have received a warrant for a blood sample, which could determine if Odom suffered drug- or alcohol-related issues. It will be tested by Metro Police, the sheriff's office said.

An ambulance arrived about 3:30 p.m. Tuesday and took Odom to Desert View Hospital in Pahrump, the sheriff's office said.

He arrived at the hospital about 40 minutes later and was treated by physicians with plans to transport him by helicopter to another hospital, the office said.

However, the 6-foot-10-inch, 230-pound Odom couldn't be transported by air due to his height and was instead taken by a Pahrump Valley Fire and Rescue Service ambulance to Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center in Las Vegas, according to the sheriff's office.

A Mercy Air spokesperson couldn't immediately comment on the size restrictions.

At a Smith’s in Pahrump on Wednesday, some residents hadn’t even noticed the heavy media presence in the area.

Jim Cox, 63, said he hadn’t seen any camera crews, and he thinks the attention the media is paying to the situation is “a bunch of baloney.”

“There’s a lot more important things to worry about than the Kardashians and Lamar Odom,” he said.

Cox also said he felt the bubbling discussion about the brothels, their policies and whether they are bad for Nye County is unjustified since they’re so out of the way.

“It’s legalized, so what’s the debate?” he said.

Syndy Sessions, 46, said her family felt the effects of Odom being in town Tuesday when they visited the Desert View hospital and experienced a longer-than-average wait.

“It was maybe shocking a little bit because he was an NBA star,” she said of Odom being hospitalized.

Friends and former teammates have taken to social media to express their support for Odom, a first-round draft pick by the Los Angeles Clippers in 1999 who later spent seven seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers.

He returned to the Clippers for one season in 2012.

"What most people don't realize about Lamar Odom is that he's a better person than he is a basketball player," basketball legend and former Laker Magic Johnson tweeted Wednesday morning, saying that he was praying for the star.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson, who attended the Democratic presidential debate Tuesday at the Wynn, visited Odom in the hospital Wednesday morning, and Kardashian was present, he said on Twitter.

Brothel workers told Hunter that Odom didn't exhibit any erratic or suicidal behavior but that he did receive a phone call Monday that "seemed to bum him out," Hunter said at the brothel Wednesday night.

Odom pleaded no contest to drunken driving after an arrest in August 2013. Kardashian filed for divorce four months later and has been dating Houston Rockets star James Harden. The divorce has not yet received final approval from a judge.

When cameras caught up with Odom on a sidewalk in August, he blamed the media for his downfall.

"Y'all have discredited me, beat me down, took my confidence, took everything away from me. You will not do it again," Odom told TMZ in an interview. "To everybody that I know and that supports me, I'm sorry but it's just it. The dog has to bite back."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.