Things aren’t looking good for basketball legend Lebron James’ close friend, manager, and business partner Maverick Carter after his recent interview was brought to light.
According to a Nov. 30 article in The Washington Post, Carter was previously interviewed by federal investigators in 2021 about his connection to former Minor League Baseball player Wayne Nix.
Nix was an illegal gambling bookie, and of his own admission, Carter had made bets on sporting events with him.
Carter told investigators that he had placed around 20 bets with Nix, ranging from $5,000 to $10,000, on football and basketball games over a year. Carter denied making bets for other people, and said he “could not remember placing any bets on the Lakers” — the team James has played for since 2018.
The NBA does not allow players, team officials, or league officials to bet on NBA games, and the NBA Player Association adds player’s agents to the rule. Neither association has business managers under that rule, so Carter should be exempt as James’ agent is another one of his close friends, Rich Paul.
But that might not be the case for Nix. In April 2022, he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to operate an illegal sports gambling business and to filing a false tax return. The prosecution said Nix ran the gambling ring for two decades, with clients such as legendary Chicago Bulls forward Scottie Pippen and former Los Angeles Dodgers player Yasiel Puig. Puig has an upcoming court date in January, after he was accused of lying to law enforcement officials about the illegal bets he made.
In a statement to The Washington Post, Adam Mendelsohn, a spokesperson for Carter and James said, “In 2021 and before 38 states and the District of Columbia legalized sports betting, Maverick Carter was interviewed a single time by federal law enforcement regarding their investigation into Wayne Nix.”
Mendelsohn said that Carter was cooperative, and he was never charged or contacted again.
After the news dropped, some people on social media joked that LeBron was in on the gambling. Two said, “LeBron should be in jail,” and “Guarantee LeBron was a part of this.” However, a handful believe Carter can gamble as a business partner, so he did nothing illegal. One individual said, “D–n, who did Maverick Carter p–s off? Leaking old news from 2021 in 2023 when he wasn’t even the center of the investigation is nasty work.”
Damn, who did Maverick Carter piss off? Leaking old news from 2021 in 2023 when he wasn’t even the center of the investigation is nasty work.
— KB (@Xclusivekesh) November 30, 2023
After James’ Lakers played the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday, Nov. 30, the 38-year-old told reporters that he had no knowledge of the investigation until the “last 24 hours.”
In response to the Post’s article James said, “Maverick’s his own man and at the end of the day, gambling is legal. I mean, you can go on your phone right now and do whatever you want. And he has no affiliation with the NBA or NFL, so, he can do what he wants to do.”
Carter and James met while playing sports together at St. Vincent-St. Mary High School in Akron, Ohio. Carter ended up interning at Nike, and he rekindled his connection with James in 2006 when they launched LRMR Management Company. They co-founded the sports marketing firm with Rich Paul and Randy Mims.
