Lamar Odom is fighting for his life right now after an eventful three day binge in the Nevada brothel called The Love Ranch. This love shack is owned by Dennis Hof, the same guy who owns the Bunny Ranch, which a few HBO subscribers may have seen on Cathouse. Odom’s case is unfortunate but I don’t get the pity party and outcry for sympathy. I don’t feel sorry for the guy, even as his life hangs on a ventilator right now.

First, I agree with the stupid notion that calling Odom a reality TV star is coarse and inaccurate. He is a NBA championship ring owner and respected talent. He’s also a man suffering from depression as his marriage to Khloe Kardashian came to its final stages over the past few weeks. I understand depression but I won’t sit here and feel overly sorry for a guy who snorted cocaine, sexual enhancers and whatever else existed at the Love Ranch in powder form. It’s another case of sports fans feeling like they have to stop their own life and feel sorry for a rich guy who made some bad choices.

Odom is more than likely a good guy who bought his teammates shoes and treated them like brothers. That’s great to hear. He seems like a well meaning guy who has gone off the deep end. I just won’t feel too sorry for him. This has nothing to do with basketball and everything to do with perspective.

There are several people around the world and even athletes who are dealing with a worse shake than Odom. Kids battling diseases. Adults battling diseases. Unfortunate cases without a happy resolution. My mom works as a nurse at a St. Louis Hospital so I understand sad stories. My dad, now retired, worked for decades at a hospital and told my brother and I painful stories about what he saw.

There’s sadness and despair all over this world and it is far worse than a former NBA star dealing with depression by sinking his sorrows into various drugs at a brothel. When I am feeling down, I get a bag of skittles, a quart of ice cream or maybe a glass of whiskey and drink until I feel numb to pain as I sit in my office. That’s a rough night for me folks. No naked bodies, drugs or desolate parking lots needed. This isn’t the first time Odom has partied beyond his bodily limits either so let’s not feel too sorry for him.

Lamar Odom was chasing a lot more than depression out there in the desert. His problems run much deeper and will need tons of reshaping if he makes it out of this ordeal alive. It’s unfortunate yet not tear inducing.

Odom needs serious help. He doesn’t need a pity party.

Thanks for reading if you did,

DLB