Lamar Odom's coach says 'Khloe Kardashian is the one person who can reach him'

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Jim Harrick became a father figure to the critically-ill NBA star after discovering him at 14
Veteran coach says he is 'devastated' over Odom's fight for life but believes only Khloe Kardashian can help save him
He tells Daily Mail Online: 'She is a blessing for him. It may hurt him that they're not together anymore but that is probably his own fault'
Harrick warns that his protege can 'appear' to have a self-destructive streak but says it was 'craziness' after split from Khloe which drove him from LA
Odom told him that Kardashians took him in and 'completed circle of life'

By Andy Tillett For Dailymail.com

Published: 10:34 EST, 15 October 2015 | Updated: 12:20 EST, 15 October 2015

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Lamar Odom's former coach who treated him 'like a son' says Khloe Kardashian is the only one who can save him.

Jim Harrick, 77, discovered Lamar's talent when he was just 14 and became the closest thing to a father figure in the basketball star's life after his mother, Cathy Mercer, died and he was abandoned by his drug addict biological father, Joe.

He says he is 'devastated' and 'praying for him' after Lamar, 35, was found unconscious in a legal Nevada brothel and rushed to hospital on Tuesday, where he is said to be suffering heart failure.

However, Jim takes comfort in the fact the sportsman's estranged wife Khloe has rushed to his side.

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Father figure: Jim Harrick discovered Lamar Odom's extraordinary talent when the player was just 14 and acted as a father figure as the prodigy suffered his mother's death and his father's estrangement

Tragic: The former NBA star is fighting for his life after falling unconscious on Tuesday while staying at a brothel in Pahrump, Nevada, where prostitution is legal. His coach says Khloe is 'a blessing'

There for him:Jim Harrick tells Daily Mail Online how Lamar Odom was grateful to the Kardashians for taking him in as a family. Now Kris and Kim are joining Khloe at his hospital bedside in Las Vegas

Back in the family: Kris Jenner and Kim Kardashian West leave hospital last night after spending time at their estranged

Teenage years: Lamar (pictured his sophomore year of high school) played basketball at Christ The King Regional High School in Middle Village, Queens, when Harrick discovered him

He exclusively told Daily Mail Online: 'Khloe is the one person that can reach him and the one person he will listen to. Its good she's there in Las Vegas to support him. We're just praying for him.

'Lamar is like a son to me. I've known him from when he was very young. My heart goes out to him right now. I know they're doing all they can over there.

'I got to know Khloe and she is a wonderful young lady, a blessing for him. It may hurt him that they're not together anymore but that is probably his own fault.

'I know her family took him in and he told me once they completed his circle of life.'

However, Jim also concedes Lamar struggled with the attention he got through his association with the Kardashians' reality TV empire, prompting his move to Nevada this year.

He added: 'He told me it was the craziness that drove him out of Los Angeles. I'm sure it was the media attention.'

Jim is also perplexed by Lamar's behavior as he appeared fine and healthy just a couple of weeks ago when he last spoke to him. He had passed him the numbers of a few ex-players who lived nearby and said he seemed 'really happy and upbeat, we were laughing and joking.'

Jim didn't want to speculate what led Lamar to be in the Love Ranch South brothel in Pahrump, but acknowledges the star – thought to have ingested a cocktail of drugs both legal and illegal during a four-day binge – is solely responsible for his actions.

He said: 'None of us know what's happened yet. There are two sides to this – on one you have great empathy and you hope and pray everything turns out, but then the other side is he's a 35-year-old man, and we are all held responsible for our actions.

'Sometimes people struggle with things, and maybe the older they get the more they struggle.

Dressed for success: Friends share their memories of Lamar (center) on social media. He was just 14 when he was

The way they were: Coach Harrick (second row, third from left) and Lamar Odom (in number five shirt) at Rhode Island University

On the way to the top: The brilliantly-gifted player began his ascent to the heights of the NBA as a player for Rhode Island University, under Jim Harrick's supervision. His coach was a father figure

'If he passed away I'd be devastated. It would be like losing a child. We should never bury our children. I hope and pray that won't happen.'

When asked if he thinks Lamar has self-destructive tendencies, Jim replied: 'I hope not. Sometimes it appears that way, but I'm not sure. It can be hard to put a handle on it because he's so elusive.'

Jim added he had mentioned to Lamar that if he was getting himself back in shape he would help him, and if he needed a place to stay he could come and live with him. Although Lamar initially agreed, he had become increasingly hard to get hold of in the last few weeks.

Lamar's life has been marked by tragedy, with his mother dying when he was 12, his father's abandonment and then losing a son, Jayden, when he was just six months old to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome [SIDS] in 2006.

Lamar also has two other children with Jayden's mother, Liza Morales: 17-year-old daughter Destiny, 13-year-old Lamar Odom Jr.

The basketball player is misunderstood by many according to Jim, who was comforted by the star when his own wife, Sally, passed away after 49 years of marriage in 2009.

Rallying round: Kobe Bryant (left) made his second visit to his friend and ex-teammate's bedside last night, while Trevor Ariza (right) also went to the hospital in Las Vegas

'People don't realize he's a great, great young man and a terrific person and he is compassionate and considerate and loving and friendly and nice and kind,' he said, adding: 'I lost my wife and I don't do death very well either. So I can have empathy for what he's going through.

'But I've never experienced life without a mother and father and a dinner at night and a bed to sleep in. Lamar never had any of that stuff.'

One thing which has heartened Jim is the way the NBA has already started to rally around Lamar and to pay their respects, including how Lamar's good friend, Kobe Bryant, had rushed to his bedside on Tuesday night after playing in Las Vegas.

Sadly, Jim had previously warned how he feared Lamar's life was going off the rails in 2013, but how he resisted attempts to help him.

Jim previously said: 'When he can't face things, Lamar runs and hides to cope with the pressure. I fear the drugs could kill him, or he could commit suicide. He's got too much to live for.

'He'd been in trouble with drugs early in his career and we talked about that a lot and I really thought he was over it. But when he was with the Clippers, he tested positive a couple of times. I told him you got to outgrow it, you've got too much of a future.

'I know he's been depressed. I don't know anyone who has lost as many people as he has in his life. It's hard not to be depressed when you lose someone close to you.'