July 10, 2025
The incident took place on October 3, 2021, at the home of McLemore’s teammate at the time, Robert Covington
After a jury found him guilty of raping a woman in Lake Oswego in 2021, former Portland Trail Blazer Ben McLemore was given a sentence of more than eight years in prison on July 9.
According to the district attorney’s office of Clackamas County, Oregon, the former NBA player was sentenced to 100 months in prison on July 9 after being convicted of rape and other sex crimes. The sentence was handed down by Clackamas County Presiding Judge Michael C. Wetzel.
A Clackamas County jury found McLemore guilty July 3 of raping and sexually assaulting a 21-year-old woman in 2021. The 32-year-old was convicted in Clackamas County Circuit Court of Rape in the First Degree, Unlawful Sexual Penetration in the First Degree, and Sexual Abuse in the Second Degree.
The victim released a statement, which was played via video, to the court.
“This has been the longest, almost four years of my life. I never imagined that reporting this back in 2021 would lead to such an incredibly difficult and long journey,” she said. “These last few years have often felt like a weight that I’ve had to drag behind me, a constant reminder of the trauma that I haven’t been able to fully work through because there was no ending in sight.”
The incident took place on October 3, 2021, at the home of McLemore’s teammate at the time, Robert Covington. The victim was reportedly drinking so much that she was “hammered unconscious drunk,” according to prosecutor Scott Healy. The woman passed out on the living room couch around 2 a.m. McLemore was sleeping on the same couch later, and around 6 a.m., as the victim was partially conscious, he penetrated her with his fingers, then began having sex with her.
Attorneys for the former basketball player asserted that she initiated sexual contact and consented to it.
The Athletic reported that, after the announcement of the prison sentence, McLemore’s attorneys released a statement from their client.
“I know people are hurting, and I want to acknowledge the weight of what has happened. My heart goes out to everyone who has been impacted,” McLemore said, according to his attorneys, Lisa Maxfield and Kris Winemiller of Pacific Northwest Law LLP. “This would not have occurred if I was clear-headed. I take responsibility for that. It would be an understatement to say that my thought processes and judgment were impaired.”
McLemore was drafted by the Sacramento Kings in the 2013 NBA Draft. He played for several teams during his NBA career: the Memphis Grizzlies, Houston Rockets, and Los Angeles Lakers, before his last season with the Trail Blazers in 2021-22. He had recently played overseas in Europe, China, and Turkey.
RELATED CONTENT: Incarcerated Women Receive $116M Settlement For ‘Staff-On-Inmate’ Sexual Assaults
