The Washington Post reported Tuesday that Maverick Carter, the longtime business partner and manager of LeBron James, placed 20 bets on basketball and football games through Wayne Nix, a bookie who pled guilty in 2022 to running an illegal gambling operation.
Nix, who was the target of an extensive federal investigation, previously made headlines for booking high-dollar sports wagers for former Major League Baseball player Yasiel Puig, who will stand trial in January for allegedly lying to federal investigators. According to a Sports Handle report earlier this year, Puig bet on tennis, football, and basketball, but not on baseball.
As the Post pointed out, the NBA Players Association bars agents from betting on NBA games, but there are no such restrictions on business managers like Carter. He reportedly told federal agents that he couldn't recall whether he bet on any games involving James' current team, the Los Angeles Lakers. The'Post reported that in November 2019, the COVID-interrupted season that resulted in James' only NBA championship with the Lakers, a business partner of Nix's told Carter he could up his bets to $25,000 per game.
Breaking news: Maverick Carter, longtime manager and business partner of Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James, admitted to betting on NBA games through an illegal bookie, according to federal law enforcement records reviewed by The Post. https://t.co/x5ofxfrgHw