Lamar Odom Update: Khloé Kardashian’s Husband Can’t Recognize Friends, Family; Doctors Fear Severe Brain Damage

Despite claims that former Los Angeles Lakers player Lamar Odom is recovering well from his medical crisis, a report by TMZ on Saturday said that he is still not in a very good shape. Odom was found unconscious at a brothel in Las Vegas on Oct. 13 after overdosing on cocaine, alcohol and herbal Viagra.

Sources cited by the TMZ now claim that Odom is still having issues communicating and sometimes cannot even recognize his family members and friends, who visit him at the hospital. The report also said that Odom, who is admitted at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, has recovered very little and is able to speak only a few occasional words. The source also said that most of the times Odom seems “empty.”

The doctors treating Khloé Kardashian’s husband fear that he might have a severe brain damage, as he recovers from several strokes he suffered before falling unconscious. Earlier reports had said that Odom is able to move around with the help of a walker and people assisting him.

"It wasn't just one small stroke, it was a series of strokes," a source had told Entertainment Tonight last month, adding: "They won't know the extent of the damage for a few months. They need time for the brain swelling to go down."

Another source told Us Weekly earlier this month: “Lamar is doing better slowly but surely,” adding: “He is still working with lots of therapists. Every day he is relearning how to do more with his motor skills. He is cognitively aware of everything but [it’s] hard to process a lot at once.”

Kardashian spoke during an interview with Ellen DeGeneres on Friday saying that she has not told Odom about his overdose at the brothel because she does not want to upset him.

“We tell him that he had a brain injury, but we can’t tell him how that brain injury was caused, because that will set him back,” Kardashian said, in the interview, adding: “He’s really confused a lot -- sometimes he knows who the president is and his birthday, and sometimes he thinks he’s 26, and I say I bet you wish you were 26. So do I!”

Kardashian and Odom had signed their divorce papers in July but the former got the process cancelled due to Odom’s medical crisis. However, she is said to be dating Houston Rockets player James Harden and reports citing sources, said that friends and family member of Odom had slammed her for doing so.

“I’m there helping him and I love him and I’ve always loved him,” Kardashian, 31, told DeGeneres during the interview, according to Us Weekly, adding: “And that will never change. And I just feel like it’s a really insensitive thing to fast-forward a divorce.”

“I love him and I always will, and he’s a fantastic person who deserves support and love and for someone to be by his side, and for me, I’m that to him,” Kardashian said, adding: “And thank God I have a fantastic family who loves me and loves him just as much. And they’re so supportive and they’re with me and I have a great boyfriend who’s understanding.”