Former NBA guard Ben McLemore has been sentenced to more than eight years in prison after being convicted of rape, unlawful sexual penetration, and sexual abuse in an Oregon court.
WARNING: This article contains graphic information.
Clackamas County Circuit Court Judge Michael Wetzel delivered a 100-month sentence on Wednesday, as reported by Portland TV station KGW.
The charges stem from an incident at a 2021 party in Lake Oswego, Oregon, at the home of McLemore’s then-Portland Trail Blazers teammate, Robert Covington.
During the trial, prosecutors argued that McLemore, now 32 years old, raped a 21-year-old woman while she was “incapacitated from alcohol.”
The woman testified in court that she was unable to consent.
McLemore denied the allegations, claiming the encounter was consensual, stating in April 2024 that, “The truth will come to light.”
Prosecutors argued the victim, a 21-year-old woman, was “hammered unconscious drunk,” and described her as vomiting and struggling to walk before passing out on a couch at 2 a.m.
The jury ultimately found him guilty on three charges but acquitted him of an additional count of sexual abuse.
“No amount of money could ever undo the damage he caused, and it wasn’t compensation I was seeking – it was justice,” the woman told KGW after McLemore was sentenced.
McLemore was the seventh overall pick in the 2013 NBA Draft out of Kansas, selected by the Sacramento Kings. He later played for Memphis, Houston, the Los Angeles Lakers, and finished his NBA career with Portland in the 2021-22 season. After leaving the league, McLemore played professionally overseas in Europe, China, and Turkey.
His legal team has not indicated whether they will appeal the conviction.
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