Lamar Odom begins road to recovery from drug problem in LA hotel room

Lamar Odom has begun his battle against an unspecified drug problem in a Los Angeles hotel room, with family and friends, it has been revealed.

According to ESPN, Odom - who's married to the reality star Khloe Kardashian - had been missing for 72 hours, though this was disputed shortly afterwards.

His agent Jeff Schwartz would not reveal the basketball star's whereabouts, although he told ESPN's Marc Stein that his client and friend was safe, saying, "Lamar is not missing. His wife knows exactly where he is."

A worrying report earlier this week suggested Odom was "deep into drugs" while he was playing for the Dallas Mavericks and there is evidence he was doing the same while playing for the Lakers.

Sources connected to the Westin hotel in Memphis told entertainment website TMZ.com that when Lamar stayed in one of the guest rooms while playing for the Mavericks, he left "major carpet damage" including "quarter-sized burn marks."

The damage was said to be so bad that the hotel redecorated the room.