NBA Player Arrested in Relation to Gambling Debt

Antoine Walker, 32, NBA player has been charged with a criminal complaint in Las Vegas for owing a whopping $822,500 in gambling debt and $82,500 in court fees.  He was charged with three counts of felony for writing 10 bad checks for a total of $1 million dollars. The arrest warrant was issued on Tuesday and he was arrested at Harrah’s Casino in Lake Tahoe on Wednesday night.  He was escorted out of the casino in handcuffs and bail was set at $87,000.

Walker’s career started out well in 1996 with the Boston Celtics.  He stayed there for quite some time being traded to the Dallas Mavericks in 2003.  In 2005, he was one of the personnel involved in one of the biggest deals in NBA History, a five team – thirteen player deal.  In this agreement, he was traded to the Miami Heat where he won his first NBA championship in 2006.  In 2007, he continued his career with the Minnesota Timberwolves and in 2008 was traded to the Memphis Grizzlies.  He was released in the middle of the season because he had some legal problems and has since become a free agent, but has not played a game since his tenure with the Memphis Grizzlies.  Walker amassed nearly $100 million during his NBA career.  He played 893 career games averaging about 17.5 points yet was criticized for taking too many shots.

This isn’t the beginning of Walkers legal problems.  During the time he was associated with the Miami Heat, he was held at gunpoint along with a relative and robbed of cash, jewelry, and a car at his home in Chicago.  He was arrested in Miami for drunk driving.

Apparently, Walker started on July 27, 2007 and took out markers from Caesars Palace, Planet Hollywood and Red Rock Resort in Las Vegas and ended on January 19th of this year.  Walker already paid back a total of $178,000. Six of the 10 checks he wrote and signed were for $100,000 to Caesars Palace and there were four for another $100,00 to the other two casinos.  Gambling debts are considered bad check cases in the state of Nevada warranting a criminal complaint by the casinos.  He is currently in Douglas County jail and was probably in Tahoe for the Celebrity Gold Tournament taking place there.  Everyone is wondering what he was thinking being at a Nevada casino when he knew a warrant was issued the previous day.

It is noted that casinos will often let celebrities write checks and give them markers without verifying the money is in the account.  These days that might not be the best thing to do.

Hopefully, there won’t be much more concerning celebrities and legal issues although it seems like a fact of life in this day and age.  An article in the San Diego Union-Tribune stated that 308 arrests have been made to NFL players since 2000.

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