Lamar Odom Might Have Permanent Brain Damage

Former NBA player Lamar Odom's road to recovery might be rockier than originally thought.

Odom's brain injury — a product of his near-fatal booze and drug binge at a Nevada brothel last month — is so severe that he's unable to recognize some family and longtime friends, can barely speak more than a few words, and at times seems "empty," TMZ reports.

The ailing 36-year-old athlete has made limited progress in recent weeks, and doctors believe he has suffered significant brain damage, the site reports.

Odom, who is recovering at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, also has no idea why he's there, according to his estranged wife, Khloe Kardashian.

"We tell him he had a brain injury, (but) I can't tell him how that brain injury was caused, because it will set him back," she said during an "Ellen DeGeneres Show" interview airing Monday. "He's never asked why he's here."

Odom and Kardashian called off their pending divorce so she could help make medical decisions during his rehabilitation process, which the reality star called "a long, long road ahead."

"He couldn't put a lot of words together today," Kardashian told DeGeneres. "But he understands."

"Sometimes he knows who the President is, or his birthday, and then other times he thinks he's 26," she added.

Though a stroke affected the part of his brain that controls emotion, Kardashian said Odom is still able to smile and laugh at appropriate times.

The former hoops star, who was found unconscious and bleeding from his nose at the Love Ranch Vegas on Oct. 13, is relearning how to walk and talk in a recovery that's expected to take months and require a great deal of therapy.

He battled a days-long coma and reportedly suffered through pneumonia, kidney damage and a series of strokes, in addition to needing an undisclosed emergency surgery.

"Every day is different," Kardashian said.

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