Vince Flores/startraksphoto.com Lamar Odom's decision this past weekend to hang out at a bar and drink alcohol has raised a lot of questions.
Particularly questions such as whether he's serious not only about recovering from the physical damage inflicted by his overdose at a Nevada brothel following a three-day drug binge, but about turning his life around as well.
The owner of the Irish-themed Johnny O'Brien's confirmed to E! News that Odom turned up at around midnight on Saturday evening and hung out with three male friends. The former NBA star ordered three mixed drinks for his buddies and a cognac for himself, his only drink of the night, and tipped well. The 6-foot-10 athlete's presence definitely prompted other patrons to turn around and have a look, and a bunch of paparazzi were out front to capture him leaving, but otherwise it was said to be a drama-free night.
"He was in a good mood, smiling and laughing with his friends, but they stayed for just an hour and left around 1 a.m.," the owner said.
Odom's comeback from a near-death experience has been described by those close to him as nothing short of a miracle. It's now been almost six months since that terrifying October night in Nevada, and when he appeared alongside the Kardashian family at Kanye West's Yeezy Season 3 show last month... he looked almost as if nothing had ever happened.
But that's hardly the case.
After waking up from a coma and spending a week in the ICU of a Las Vegas hospital, he was transferred to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, where the long road to rehabilitation began. First he had to learn how to swallow on his own, breath without an oxygen mask and regain movement in his fingers and hands. A source tells E! News, "Every time we would think he had hit a milestone, he would revert back again. It was a heartbreaking process. We didn't know if he would be left with permanent brain damage or whether he'd be able to walk again. Let alone be able to string a sentence together. It's incredible how far he's come.
"It's been an extremely long process, but he's getting there."
But cue the skeptics after TMZ posted pics Tuesday of Odom at Johnny O'Brien's, hours before attending Easter services with Khloe Kardashian and her family on Sunday morning.
Multiple sources tell E! News, however, that Odom remains serious about recovery and is not relapsing with alcohol.
"Lamar has no issues with drinking," one insider tells us. "He was not drunk or out of control after his bar visit. He is well aware of what he is doing and he is not going to f--k it up. Khloe supports him and is still taking care of him. She is really pleased with how well he is recovering."
His recovery to this point is indeed due in large part to having Khloe by his side for support. She jetted to Vegas as soon as she heard about his overdose and stayed nearby throughout until he was transported back to L.A.—where she continued to be a frequent presence at the hospital.
Right before the incident the exes were barely talking and their divorce was days away from being finalized (in fact, for all intents and purposes they were referred to as divorced, but the papers were still in line to be stamped due to a backlog at the courthouse). Khloe, who was initially in charge of making major medical decisions for Lamar, put the divorce on hold indefinitely so they could focus on his health.
Odom finally left Cedars in January and moved back to Calabasas to be near Khloe and her family while undergoing further rehabilitation and physical therapy. He's now in a rented house in the same gated community where Khloe and Kourtney Kardashian have homes and he's back to holding conversations and walking without aid.
We're told that, mentally, he's focused on moving forward and his mobility is improving. A source says he's much more stable and requires fewer breaks when he's working out with his physical therapist. He's maintaining a proper diet as well and his "attitude is also more positive and brighter towards life," the source adds.
"It's incredible," says another insider. "It's as if the accident never happened. He almost died and came back the same person. We are all so happy and grateful. Eventually Lamar hopes he might even be able to play basketball again. That's what he is working towards. And no one has more determination than Lamar. His recovery is a testament to his incredible spirit and drive."
Meanwhile, Khloe's not-that-cryptic tweets from this morning would suggest she's still struggling with Lamar's decision-making process.
"I hate this feeling.... Helpless," she wrote Tuesday, following the sorrowful sentiment with two re-tweets from pastor and televangelist Joel Osteen: "When something doesn't work out your way, it doesn't mean God has failed you. It means He's planning something better" and "When you have faith despite how the situation looks, God will move heaven and earth to do what He promised."
But despite the bar outing and what it looks like, one source also insists that it is not an indicator of Lamar sliding backwards.
"No," the source says, "he is not spiraling out of control. His trip to the bar was literally his way of trying to gain some semblance of a normal life. He wants to try and get out there a little more and get back to a regular schedule."
Because he may look strong, but his life is in no way back to normal yet.
"Lamar's life now means he spends almost all his time in his house," the source says. "He will go over to Khloe's and have dinner with her, but it's not simple to just go out to a restaurant or a shop. He does have security with him, but moving around isn't as easy as before.
"He has some good days and bad days. It's a process."
The source added, "As far as I am aware he has not been drinking. He was at the bar with his security guard, who Khloe knows very well.
"He was not hanging at a club or partying. He was trying to blend in with the crowd. His friends are not worrying about him. Everyone knows Lamar is determined to get back to where he was and he will do whatever it takes to get there."
And he continues to rely heavily on Khloe and the built-in Kardashian support system.
"He is still hanging out with Khloe all the time," a source said. "They are still extremely close. I have no idea if they will ever officially get back together, but they are both working toward the same goal—and that's for Lamar to be healthy and make a full recovery."
—Additional reporting by Alli Rosenbloom