OREGON — Former Houston Rockets and Portland Trail Blazers guard, Ben McLemore, has been found guilty by a Clackamas County jury on multiple charges, including first-degree rape, stemming from a 2021 sexual assault case.
The verdict, delivered on Thursday after roughly 10 hours of deliberation following an 11-day trial, saw McLemore, 32, convicted on three counts: first-degree rape, first-degree unlawful sexual penetration, and second-degree sexual abuse. He was acquitted on an additional count of second-degree sexual abuse.
The charges relate to an incident on October 3, 2021, in Lake Oswego, Oregon, during McLemore’s stint with the Portland Trail Blazers. Prosecutors said the victim was assaulted while partially conscious after passing out from heavy drinking at a party.
According to Clackamas County prosecutor Scott Healy, the woman testified that she had blacked out on a couch and awoke to McLemore assaulting her.
McLemore, who pleaded not guilty to all charges, maintained through his legal team that the encounter was consensual. His attorneys argued that although both parties had consumed alcohol, the victim was coherent enough to consent and had initiated the contact.
A grand jury indicted McLemore in February 2024 following the police investigation. He was later arrested by U.S. Marshals two months afterward.
McLemore, a former No. 7 overall NBA draft pick out of Kansas in 2013, played for five NBA teams over nine seasons. He spent parts of two seasons with the Houston Rockets (2019–2021) and played the 2021–2022 season with the Trail Blazers before continuing his career overseas in China, Greece, Spain, and Turkey.
Sentencing has been scheduled for 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, July 9.
