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Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Derek Fisher, Piers Morgan react to Lamar Odom tragedy

NBA legend Magic Johnson has given an insight into what Lamar Odom is really like, revealing a side of the man few would know about.

Tyson OttoTyson Otto
@tottodtsport
4 min read
October 15, 2015 - 10:20AM

FORMER teammate Kobe Bryant and ex-wife Khloe Kardashian are among those who have visited hospitalised former NBA standout Lamar Odom as he fought for his life today.

Odom was found unconscious at a brothel in Nevada and taken to Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center by medics and is reportedly in a coma fighting for his life.

The 35-year-old’s critical condition prompted the biggest names in sport and entertainment to pay tribute to the former NBA star, but these messages from former Los Angeles Lakers superstar Magic Johnson are perhaps the most revealing of them all.

Johnson’s tweets give an insight into why so many of Odom’s friends and former teammates have been so heavily affected by the news of his hospitalisation — a side of the man few would know about.

New York Knicks coach Derek Fisher, a former teammate of Odom’s at the Los Angeles Lakers, echoed the sentiment, saying Odom is one of the “the greatest people I’ve ever known”.

“It’s difficult news to hear,” Fisher said

“Obviously very personal to me.

“I think that oftentimes athletes, celebrities are judged by choices or decisions, and that’s not representative of who they are.

“Lamar Odom was one of the greatest people I’ve ever known. That’s the way I see him. I don’t see him through the prism of choices he has made.

“I view him through the heart and soul of the person he really is. I’m obviously hoping he can pull through this, [and] in some fortunate way, this becomes the beginning of a different ending.’’

Lamar Odom and Kobe Bryant won NBA championships together.
Lamar Odom and Kobe Bryant won NBA championships together.

The messages also help explain why Bryant was prepared to leave the Lakers in the middle of a pre-season game to rush to be by Odom’s side.

Bryant left during the Lakers’ 107-100 exhibition loss to Sacramento in Las Vegas to be with Odom while other reports said Kardashian and Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak visited Odom in the hospital.

Odom and Bryant, 37, were Lakers teammates from 2004 through 2011, helping Los Angeles capture NBA titles together in 2009 and 2010. Odom had not played in the NBA since 2013.

Bryant and Kardashian’s emotional visits were echoed by the well-wishes and prayers from some of the biggest names in sport and entertainment.

NBA superstar LeBron James posted a note of support for Odom on Instagram.

“So many prayers sent up to you LO,” James said along with a picture of himself and Odom playing for the Dream Team.

“I truly hope this isn’t the last stop for you because you still have so much to give, not even to others but to yourself more importantly.

“Never know what someone is going through unless you’re walking in their shoes. No judgement. Straight up homie.”

Knicks star Carmelo Anthony said he and his team attempted to help Odom deal with his demons last season when he was hired by New York, but was cut just four months later in July, 2014.

“It’s sad,” Anthony said.

“I’ve known him personally since high school. He’s a friend of mine. It’s a sad situation. To see where he was at as a player or person and see where he’s at right now, all you can do is pray for him and his family.

Khloe Kardashian has visited Lamar Odom in hospital.
Khloe Kardashian has visited Lamar Odom in hospital.

“Last year Phil tried to bring him in. We reached out. My family is close to his family. We tried to reach out.’’

Lakers coach Byron Scott said his whole team is praying for Odom’s recovery.

“Obviously, our hearts and our thoughts and our prayers are with Lamar and his family,” Scott said.

“It’s obviously something that you don’t want to hear before the game because I think the people that knew about it, we were all thinking about it.

“I obviously feel for him and hope that he will be OK.”

Here’s how some of the biggest names in sport reacted on social media to the news of Odom’s fight for life.

Meanwhile, English television personality Piers Morgan has penned a controversial column suggesting Odom’s marriage with Khloe Kardashian was responsible for his spiralling out of control.

“There can’t be many more pitiful, humiliating ways to potentially end your life than face down in an infamous Nevada brothel, vomiting uncontrollably from the overdose of herbal Viagra you took to keep up with myriad prostitutes during a 4-day binge,” Morgan wrote in The Daily Mail.

“As I write, Lamar Odom is clinging on. He’s in a coma, distraught family and friends at his bedside.

“But his dignity and reputation are already dead, shredded at the altar of reality television.

“Then he fell in love with a Kardashian and his life became public property.”

Meanwhile, Lakers star Metta World Peace said he was completely lost when asked to share his thoughts on Odom’s ongoing fight in hospital.

“There’s nothing I can say. I don’t even know what to say,” said World Peace, who grew up with Odom in the New York.

“There’s not one word I can say right now that would make sense.”

— with AP

Originally published as Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Derek Fisher, Piers Morgan react to Lamar Odom tragedy

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Original URL: https://www.thechronicle.com.au/sport/kobe-bryant-lebron-james-derek-fisher-piers-morgan-react-to-lamar-odom-tragedy/news-story/b443624897a715ece3c27cc6ae17eaa8