Former NBA forward Lamar Odom was hospitalised on Tuesday after being found unconscious in a brothel near Las Vegas and he is considered to be in a critical condition.

According to the Nye County Sheriff's Office, Odom was found unresponsive at Dennis Hof's Love Ranch South in Nevada.

First responders were able to stabilise Odom before transferring him by ambulance to nearby Desert View Hospital.

Omnisport confirmed that Odom was admitted on Tuesday to the hospital, where he received treatment before being transferred to another facility in Las Vegas.

Police said Odom's condition was such that it required him to be airlifted, but his stature instead necessitated an ambulance.

Dennis Hof, who owns the brothel, told the Los Angeles Times that employees of the brothel last saw Odom on Tuesday morning.

When two women went to check on him in a VIP suite in the mid-afternoon, Odom was unconscious.

Hof said "terrible stuff came out" of Odom's mouth or nose when the women turned him on his side, and they called police.

Odom, 35, arrived at the brothel on Saturday and "wanted to get away from everybody, wanted to have fun" - Hof told the Times.

Odom, a two-time NBA champion and 2011 Sixth Man of the Year, revealed in 2013 that he suffered from substance abuse problems, just before he split with his ex-wife Khloe Kardashian.