On Oct. 13, two women at the Love Ranch, a brothel in Crystal, Nevada, went upstairs to check on Lamar Odom, a two-time NBA champion and estranged husband to Khloe Kardashian, after not having seen him during the morning hours. Upon walking into his room, they found Odom face down and unconscious. Odom would find himself in a drug induced coma at Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center after reports of his consumption of herbal Viagra as well as cocaine. Since the incident, the media has not left Odom alone.
He since has woken up from his coma and is responding to doctors. However, the media continues to bring attention to this issue for all the wrong reasons. Rather than focusing on Odom being involved with the Kardashians due to his marriage and his ongoing divorce with Khloe Kardashian, the media should be focusing more on him as a former basketball star who had a rough life to begin with.
From the start, Odom didn’t have it easy. He grew up during the New York City crack cocaine epidemic of the 80s and 90s. When he was 12, he lost is mother to colon cancer. His mom, who was a corrections and traffic officer, raised him as a single parent, as his father was a heroin addict and a disabled veteran. After his mother died, Odom was sent to live with his grandmother, who urged the focus of his studies and sports to keep him off the streets.
His personal struggles would continue as an adult, including during his time as an NBA player. In 2006, Odom’s youngest son passed away before the age of two from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. In 2013, Odom began struggling with substance abuse. He was arrested for suspicion of driving under the influence and checked himself into rehab as a result. In 2014, Odom suffered another loss, this time the death of his close friend Jamie Sangouthai from a bacterial skin infection stemming from drug use.
Anyone can see that Odom hasn’t had an easy life. And yet the media continues to make his latest struggle about the views and ratings they can get by linking it to the Kardashians. The Kardashians should not be the focus of someone’s injury or illness, especially someone who has a troubled life. Instead, if the media wants to focus on anything involving this incident, they should focus more on why it occurred.
Ideally, the media should leave Odom alone altogether in his time of recovery. The continuous reports about his recuperation are acceptable, but that should be about it. They don’t need to highlight that Khloe Kardashian has remained by his bedside since the incident. It’s pathetic that the media focuses more on the Kardashians and what they have to say regarding the situation than other people in his life. Many people probably don’t even know that one of the first people to make it to Odom’s hospital room was former teammate and longtime friend, Kobe Bryant.
It’s understandable in a day and age where the news has become obsessed with ratings and views to compete with other stations that the coverage would focus on the people who will get them those ratings, but the media needs to take a step back and acknowledge the fact that this incident is bigger than a ratings battle. They need to highlight Odom as an individual, not a connection, as everyone hopes for a steady recovery.
