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LOS ANGELES, Oct. 21 (UPI) -- Los Angeles Times columnist Bill Plaschke didn't mince words when discussing the Kardashians' involvement during Lamar Odom's comatose status. Plaschke penned a lengthy piece Wednesday titled "Kardashians' freak show capitalizes on Lamar Odom one more time."
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Odom was found unconscious in a Nevada brothel last week. He stayed at Sunrise Hospital in Las Vegas, where he was visited by the Kardashian family, before being flown Monday to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, in Los Angeles.
Khloe Kardashian, Odom's estranged wife, was one of the visitors, according to multiple reports. Odom and Kardashian married in 2009 and separated in 2013. The couple is still legally married, according to a CNN report.
"Yet the horror increased when it became apparent that even his most dire moments were going to be stolen by the tacky reality show that had already taken so much," Plaschke wrote in the Los Angeles Times.
"The Kardashians, led by Lamar's estranged wife, Khloe, showed up over Odom's comatose body, and suddenly the narrative changed, Odom wasn't a former NBA champion, he was a reality star. Odom wasn't a deeply troubled and vulnerable former athlete, he was the guy who was keeping Khloe from hanging out with her new boyfriend, James Harden."
Odom spent $75,000 in three days at the Love Ranch brothel, according to CNN. The money included two girls that would "take care of any of his needs," according to CNN.
"I'm going to protect my business, and I'm not going to let the world say that Lamar was doing a lot of drugs in my place," Love Ranch owner Dennis Hof told CNN's Michael Smerconish. "Because it makes him look bad, and he wasn't doing that."
In the column, Plaschke says to pray for Odom and that the Kardashians don't televise the events.
"Suddenly, all the prayers weren't only for Odom, but for the poor Kardashians and all their pain, reality's freak show pulling in Odom one more time, capitalizing on his celebrity one more time, overshadowing his real struggles one more time, creating an irony both somber and profound," Plaschke wrote in the column. "The Kardashians came across as Odom's intensive-care advocates when, in fact, his appearance in their warped TV world was part of the self-destructive slide that led him there."
Khloe Kardashian and Odom filed documents Wednesday with LA County courts dismissing their divorce proceedings. TMZ reported a judge immediately granted their request for dismissal, effectively ending the couple's divorce proceedings.
Odom, 35, was drafted No. 4 overall in the 1999 NBA draft out of Rhode Island. In 14 seasons for the Los Angeles Clippers, Lakers, Miami Heat, and Dallas Mavericks, Odom averaged 13.3 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 3.7 assists. Odom's last season came with the Clippers in 2012, when he averaged 7.4 points, 10.7 rebounds, and 3.2 assists. Odom won two NBA championships, in 2009 and 2010, with the Lakers.
