A youth basketball coach in New York City received a phone call in July. One of his former players was looking for him.

The player was Lamar Odom, the former high school basketball star who went on to win two N.B.A. titles with the Los Angeles Lakers. His professional basketball career was finished, and his private struggles were playing out for public consumption on reality television. Odom hoped to patch things up with his former coach. He also wanted help.

“Then why did you move to Las Vegas?” the coach, Gary Charles, recalled asking him.

Odom assured Charles he was committed to regaining his fitness and playing basketball again, so Charles made arrangements for Odom to work out later that week at a Las Vegas-area high school. Charles was optimistic. Perhaps this was the fresh start that Odom desperately needed.

But when that day came, and the gymnasium was prepared for his arrival, Odom did not show up.

On Thursday, Odom, 35, remained hospitalized in Las Vegas, two days after he was found unconscious in a Nevada brothel. The hospital has not released information about his condition, but news reports said he was in a medically induced coma after a drug-fueled binge.