Lamar Odom ‘regains consciousness’ and says 'hi' to Khloe Kardashian as condition improves

The basketball player is critically ill after being found unconscious in a brothel

(AFP)

Lamar Odom has reportedly regained consciousness and communicated with his family in hospital, days after being found critically ill in a Las Vegas brothel.

Alvina Alston, publicist for JaNean Mercer, Odom's maternal aunt and godmother, said Odom greeted family members with a thumbs-up on Friday morning. “He woke up and he spoke,” Alston said.

Odom is being treated at the Sunrise Medical Centre in Las Vegas after he was found face down and unresponsive at the Love Ranch brothel in Crystal. Staff told emergency responders Odom was breathing but unconscious and had a red and white liquid coming coming out of his mouth.

He had reportedly taken cocaine on Saturday before arriving at the brothel and bought at least 10 over the counter supplements used as “herbal Viagra” during his stay there.

The former NBA player’s college coach, Jim Harrick, told CNN Odom had communicated with his estranged wife Khloe Kardashian by blinking at her.

(Getty Images)

“He's awake now,“ Harrick said. "So that's probably the most encouraging news we've had since it all started.“

A source "close" to Khloe told the Associated Press Odom managed to say ‘hi’ to her on Friday. Khloe is understood to be in charge of medical decisions surrounding Odom’s care because their divorce has not yet entered court.

Authorities are now retracing the events leading up to the moment Odom was taken ill in a bid to determine what caused him to be found unconscious at the brothel, where he reportedly spent $79,000 during his four day stay.

The apparent improvement in his condition comes after Dennis Hof, the owner of the brothel, claimed he told the Kardashian family to “go to hell” for asking him not to speak to the media.

Khloe’s spokesperson confirmed the family had “reached out” to Hof and asked him to respect their privacy by not talking to the media.

”This is a very painful situation, as I know you are aware, and the idea that anyone would use it to seek publicity is really sad," they added.

The Kardashian family have temporarily stopped publishing content on their apps to focus on Odom's recovery.

A message announcing the decision on Khloe’s website read: “As a family, we've decided to hold off on publishing content across our apps while we continue to support and pray for Lamar.”

Odom was one of the most dominant high-school basketball players to emerge from Queens, New York. He played 14 seasons in the NBA, winning two championships with the Lakers for the 2008-09 and 2009-10 seasons.