Khloé Kardashian says she hid Lamar Odom’s addiction as Netflix doc revisits near-fatal overdose

Khloé Kardashian is opening up about the years she spent protecting ex-husband Lamar Odom from public scrutiny during his battle with addiction, as a new Netflix documentary revisits the former NBA star’s near-fatal 2015 overdose.

The revelations appear in Untold: The Death & Life of Lamar Odom, an upcoming episode in Netflix’s sports documentary series that explores Odom’s rise to NBA fame and the addiction that nearly ended his life.

The trailer revisits the infamous October 2015 incident when Odom was found unconscious at the Love Ranch brothel in Crystal, Nevada, after a drug overdose that left him hospitalised and fighting for his life.

In the footage, the former Los Angeles Lakers star recalls the severity of the medical emergency.

“I had 12 strokes and six heart attacks,” Odom says. “That’s not no average s—.”

Although Kardashian and Odom were estranged at the time, the reality star rushed to his bedside and remained there while he was in a coma and on life support.

In the documentary, Kardashian admits she often felt responsible for shielding Odom from public scrutiny during their marriage.

“He would escape rehab and go on a drug bender and no one could find him,” Kardashian says. “I just felt such a responsibility to cover this up and protect him.”

Kardashian and Odom first met in 2009 at a party hosted by his Los Angeles Lakers teammate Ron Artest, now known as Metta Sandiford-Artest. The couple married just one month later.

Friends interviewed in the documentary describe Odom’s lifestyle at the time as that of a “rock star”, as he balanced NBA success with growing struggles behind the scenes.

Odom also speaks candidly about how his addiction began.

“That first hit of cocaine was amazing,” he says. “But you unlock a vault that you can’t really control.”

The former NBA champion admits he was ashamed of his substance abuse during those years.

“I was out all night partying. I didn’t want to stop,” Odom says.

At the end of the trailer, he reflects on his near-death experience.

“The afterlife is not what people make it out to be.”

Kardashian and Odom separated in 2013, and their divorce was finalised in 2016 following his recovery.

The documentary is directed by Ryan Duffy and will be the first of four new sports stories released in Netflix’s Untoldseries this spring.

It arrives months after Odom entered rehab earlier this year following a DUI arrest. His manager Gina Rodriguez said the former athlete chose to seek treatment for marijuana addiction to avoid relapsing into harder drugs.

Untold: The Death & Life of Lamar Odom premieres on Netflix on March 31.