For most of LeBron James’ NBA career, Maverick Carter has served as his business manager. Carter, like James, grew up in Akron, Ohio, and although he didn’t finish his college education, he paid his dues in terms of learning business.
While James’ team of representatives, which includes Carter and agent Rich Paul, is seen as a success story, a new and major allegation has come to light.
Carter has reportedly admitted to betting on NBA games by using an illegal bookmaker. He made this admission in November 2021 to federal agents when they were doing an investigation into Wayne Nix, the illegal bookie in question.
Via Washington Post:
“Carter and his attorneys told investigators, the records show, that he placed approximately 20 bets on football and basketball games over the course of a year, with each bet ranging from $5,000 to $10,000,” Gus Garcia-Roberts wrote. “An indictment in the case states that in November 2019, amid the [Los Angeles] Lakers’ championship season, Nix’s partner Edon Kagasoff told a ‘business manager for a professional basketball player’ via text that he could increase his wagers up to $25,000 on NBA games.”
Adam Mendelsohn, who is a spokesman for Carter and James, said Carter “was not the target of the investigation, cooperated, was never charged, and never contacted again on the matter.” Mendelsohn also claimed the bets Carter placed had nothing to do with James, while Carter told agents he “could not remember placing any bets on the Lakers.”
Two other high-profile athletes are also involved: former Chicago Bulls Hall of Famer Scottie Pippen, who also admitted to making bets through Nix, and former Los Angeles Dodgers star Yasiel Puig, one of Nix’s clients.
Carter told the investigators how he knew Nix.
“The following month, investigators conducted a video interview with Carter, who was a passenger in his own car and joined in the interview by two attorneys,” wrote Garcia-Roberts after revealing details about Pippen’s interview with investigators. “According to a report detailing the interview, Mitchell, the prosecutor, also explained to Carter, as investigators routinely do, the statute making it a crime to lie during such an interview.
“Agents showed Carter photos of several people involved in the betting operation, according to the report, and he said he recognized just one of them: Nix, with whom he had played cards in Las Vegas on a couple of occasions.
“Carter said he met Nix in 2017 or 2018 through a friend named Jeff from Ohio, whose last name Carter said he couldn’t remember. But other records shed light on connections between Carter and Nix’s operation.”
“… Carter told the agents that when he was in Las Vegas, Nix would tag along with him and others. Outside of Las Vegas, Carter said, he and Nix talked only on the phone. When the agents asked if he still had Nix’s phone number, Carter said he deleted it after he learned that the government ‘was looking’ at Nix. Carter shared with the investigators his own phone number that he said he texted Nix from, and said that he utilized ‘no other phones.’”
“Carter acknowledged that he knew Nix was involved in gambling and said Nix owed him money from both poker and football. The 20 bets he placed through Nix were on college football, the NFL and the NBA, Carter told the agents, and he said he would text Nix his bets or place them directly through Sand Island Sports, the Costa Rican website Nix used. Carter said he didn’t know of Edon Kagasoff.
“Carter said he paid and received winnings from Nix via wire transfers and cash, identifying one of his employees who he said handled the cash drops. The federal agents asked Carter if he had been ‘truthful and not misleading’ in any of his responses, according to the investigative report, and Carter said he was.”
It’s important to keep in mind that per NBA rules, players, team officials and league officials aren’t allowed to bet on NBA games. The National Basketball Players Association, the union for NBA players, doesn’t allow agents to place bets on NBA games, but it doesn’t have such restrictions on business managers such as Carter.
