The real ones know that Khloe Kardashian wasn’t always the headstrong decisionmaker she now is. It was a very painful journey for her to get there. One of the most crucial decisions of her life came during the breakdown of her marriage to Lamar Odom. During her most vulnerable days, she had to make a decision that would determine the life or death of the Lakers star. In that moment, Kobe Bryant stepped in for his old teammate.

In a harrowing revelation from the new Netflix documentary Untold: The Death and Life of Lamar Odom, Khloe Kardashian details the nightmarish reality of Odom’s 2015 overdose and the pivotal role the late Kobe Bryant played in his survival. Bryant and Odom had not been teammates for almost five years when LO went through the scariest stage of his life. Yet their bond remained with Bean often looking out for his old friend.

His addiction spiraled till he was found unresponsive in a brothel. He was taken to a Las Vegas hospital and Khloe, with her mother and sisters, as well as Odom’s kids, flew over. They had called off their first divorce filings at that time and were still married. That made Kardashian his legal health proxy when he was unable to decide for himself.

Far from how she’s described these events on her family’s flagship show, Khloe revealed that Odom’s condition critical with collapsed lungs and significant brain damage. The doctors gave him only a 10% chance of surviving a necessary surgical intervention.

“They were like, ‘Okay, the surgery, there’s like a 10% chance it will work, or he might die on the table,’” Kardashian recalled. The odds made it difficult for her to decide. Lucky for her, reinforcement flew in from Los Angeles to Las Vegas. “And Kobe Bryant was there. And he helped me make the decision of doing the surgery.”

Keep in mind, this was early October in 2015. Bryant left in the middle of the Lakers’ pre-season game to go to Vegas. Then Lakers coach, Byron Scott confirmed that the news about Odom’s OD was “hard” on Kobe. “He was very close to Lamar, loves him like a brother. So it’s a rough time for Kobe dealing with that.”

The Lakers didn’t mind giving him that break to go to Odom. Despite his own state of mind, he probably provided Khloe some much-needed rationality. The Black Mamba’s steel-like mentality and risk-taking worked for his friend. The surgery worked. Odom survived, but he fell into a coma.

Over the years, LO would recall multiple ways how Bryant helped him overcome that dark period. Since Bryant and his daughter, Gianna, passed away in the helicopter crash in 2020, Odom said Bryant has come to him in his dreams encouraging him to better himself.

When Kobe Bryant stood up for Lamar Odom

The Untold series dove deep into Lamar Odom’s recovery from the brink of death. It reveals never-before-seen footage from the hospital when the once proud 6’10” forward who won 6MOTY was re-learning how to walk and talk while surrounded by his kids, Khloe, and the Kar-Jenner family. But this documentary also gave an inside look into the Lakers brotherhood that made the 2009 and 2010 championships.

While Odom perceived his abrupt trade from Lakers to the Dallas Mavericks as a slap in the face, he remained close to his teammates. Pau Gasol, Metta World Peace, and even his Miami Heat ‘rook,’ Dwyane Wade, prayed for him to come out of his coma and make a full recovery.

But given the entire context of Odom’s addiction and his infidelity, even at that time he wasn’t immune to criticism. In that moment, Kobe Bryant slammed the hate train. In a defiant tweet, he told the public to “#justpray” and made a striking statement.

“When WE feel the need to question the support of others in moments as critical as a life hanging in the balance, then we must question the kind of culture we have created that has led US to such insensitive suspicion.”

Untold reminded us of the same tweet in the series. Back then, this created a Twitter (as X was known then) storm. It was apparently a pointed jab at Master P who called Bryant’s concern for Odom, “phony.”

The private reality was different from Master P’s allegation. Khloe’s revelation a decade later confirms that Kobe Bryant was there by Lamar Odom’s side.