Nearly a decade after his near-fatal overdose at a Nevada brothel, Lamar Odom is pushing back on the narrative that his ex-wife Khloe Kardashian was the hero of his survival story. In a candid new interview, the former NBA star offered his own perspective on the events of 2015, and it doesn’t fully align with hers.
During an April 6 appearance on Today with Jenna & Sheinelle, Odom was asked directly whether he felt Kardashian saved his life after she rushed to his hospital bedside. His answer was measured but firm.
“In some ways,” he replied. “God saved my life. My lord saved my life, honestly… Yeah, she took care of me, but God took care of me the most. What I came back from is like a medical miracle”.
Odom, who suffered six heart attacks and 12 strokes during the ordeal, also took issue with a specific claim Kardashian made in Netflix’s Untold: The Death & Life of Lamar Odom. In the documentary, she alleged that Odom’s late father, Joe, wanted doctors to pull the plug on his son so he could collect life insurance money — and that she convinced him to back down by giving him $100 and a pair of Nikes.
“You know, I was knocked out and asleep at that time,” Odom said. “If you know Joe Odom, I don’t think that’s something he would ever come out of his mouth. He was my biggest fan. I don’t know where that got mistranslated”.
Despite the pushback, Odom did not dismiss Kardashian’s efforts entirely. He acknowledged that she stayed by his side for four months, paused their divorce proceedings, and even rented him a home with a caretaker after his release .
The pair reunited on The Kardashians in 2025 when Odom visited her home to collect keepsakes. He called the encounter “awkward” and admitted, “It wasn’t really good for me”.
As for a romantic future? He shut that down completely. “I will always have love for her, but being in love, no” .
