Lamar Odom speaks to doctors, gives thumbs-up

Lamar Odom gave doctors a thumbs-up and spoke briefly Friday morning, a family spokeswoman said in the first official update on his condition since he was found unconscious in a Nye County brothel and hospitalized in Las Vegas.

"That is the only thing we can confirm at this moment and cannot answer any further questions on his condition," Alvina Alston told the Review-Journal in an email. Alston is a publicist representing JaNean Mercer, Odom's aunt who helped raise him.

Professional boxer Zab Judah also told the Review-Journal that on Friday he saw Odom open his eyes and say "good morning."

Judah, who lives in Las Vegas, said he had visited Odom in the hospital Wednesday and Thursday, and that he has seen an improvement in his condition each day.

Media outlets, often quoting anonymous sources, have given wildly varied reports on Odom's improving or declining health.

Odom has been hospitalized at Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center since being brought from Nye County on Tuesday. But he's not officially on the patient register, per his right through federal laws that block medical information from the public.

The former Los Angeles Laker and NBA star had spent four days at the Love Ranch in Crystal, about 30 miles north of Pahrump, according to brothel owner Dennis Hof.

A stay in the two-bedroom trailer Odom rented would cost five figures, according to a brothel spokesman.

Nye County sheriff's office investigators said Wednesday that the 35-year-old Odom had been using cocaine and sexual performance enhancers days before he was found unconscious. Doctors warn patients not to mix alcohol with the performance enhancers. A brothel spokesman said Odom took about 10 enhancement pills, some of which he got at the brothel, and drank Cognac during his stay.

Hof, though, has said repeatedly that his workers never saw Odom taking any drugs.

Drug problems could mean a brothel looses its license. Nevada, the only state with legalized prostitution, leaves regulation of the industry to counties. Selling sex is illegal in Clark County.

Investigators obtained a warrant to test Odom's blood for illicit drugs and were still awaiting the results as of Friday afternoon. The sheriff's office said it could take weeks for results to come back.

Besides his time with the 2009 and 2010 NBA Championship Lakers, Odom is well known for being part of the Kardashian family. E! aired his wedding to Khloe Kardashian, and the couple had their own show, "Khloe and Lamar."

Khloe Kardashian filed for divorce in 2013 after four years of marriage, citing irreconcilable differences. But it's not finalized, and it could still take months before that happens. That status may leave her in charge of making Odom's medical decisions.

Contact reporter Colton Lochhead at clochhead@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4638. Find him on Twitter: @ColtonLochhead. Contact Steven Moore at smoore@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4563.