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Report: Odom discharged from Vegas hospital, to continue treatment in L.A.

Jayne Kamin-Oncea-US PRESSWIRE

Lamar Odom has been discharged from Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center in Las Vegas, according to Bruna Nessif and Holly Passalaqua from E! News.

Odom, who was found unresponsive at a Nevada brothel Tuesday, will receive treatment at L.A.'s Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Mark Medina from Los Angeles Daily News reports. The transfer was originally reported pending Odom's condition remaining stable, and logistics of the transfer remain unclear.

Reportedly in a coma, on life support, and in critical condition, Odom's progress over the last several days is encouraging and he may soon begin physical therapy. The recovery ahead remains a long one - it's unclear if Odom suffered any permanent damage - but multiple outlets have reported his condition has been cause for optimism.

The Nye County Sheriff's Office revealed Thursday that Richard Hunter, the media director at the Love Ranch where the 35-year-old Odom was found, told dispatchers Odom had been using cocaine and had taken 10 herbal sexual enhancement pills over a three-day period.

Odom had several visitors in the hospital, including former Los Angeles Lakers teammate Kobe Bryant, and the outpouring of love, prayers, and support from the NBA community has been remarkable. Estranged wife Khloe Kardashian, now dating Houston Rockets star James Harden, has reportedly remained by Odom's side since he was admitted to hospital.

A recovery from Odom would seem borderline miraculous given the specter around his condition last week, and those close to him remain hopeful.

"Lamar has always been blessed with a tenacious, fighting spirit, overcoming obstacles to achieve the impossible," Odom's aunt and godmother, JaNean Mercer, said in a statement Monday.

Tragedy has seemingly followed Odom, who lost his mother to cancer when he was 12 and was raised by his grandmother, as his father was an absentee drug addict. His grandmother passed away in 2003. In 2006, he lost his 6-month-old son, Jayden, to SIDS, and Odom was shot at during a robbery weeks after the funeral. He lost a close cousin in 2011, and was a passenger in a vehicle that left a teenager dead in an accident later that year.

"Some of the things I've been through, a lot of people wouldn't have been able to stick it out, mentally," Odom told SLAM in 2010. "So many things have happened to me but I wouldn’t do anything over, because if I did, it wouldn’t be my story. It’s what makes me a unique individual."

Since his departure from the league, Odom has been arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence and repeatedly tied to reports of illicit drug use. In 2000-01, he was suspended for violating the NBA's anti-drug policy for the second time in an eight-month span.

The former fourth overall pick last played in the NBA in 2012-13, when he helped the Los Angeles Clippers reach the Western Conference semifinals. In Odom's underrated 14-year career, he won two championships with the Lakers and was named the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year in 2010-11, while essentially defining the role of point forward.

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