Shabazz Muhammad is going through it this month. Once thought to be a sure-fire NBA Draft lottery pick, the 6’6’’ shooting guard/wing is dealing with the pressures of his rumored plummeting draft stock after a poor showing at the draft combine. Then, on Thursday his dad—the driving force behind his career—was indicted on federal bank fraud and conspiracy charges, the Las Vegas Journal reported.
According to USA Today, The indictment states that Ron Holmes and his partners obtained "mortgage loans by fraudulent means to buy houses," from 2006 to 2009.
This isn't the first time Holmes has been under a cloud of controversy. The Los Angeles Times reported in March that Holmes had lied about his son's age. And, most notably, Muhammad's family was investigated by the NCAA before his career at UCLA began for questionable financial dealings.
Holmes, a former college basketball player at USC, also pled guilty in 1999 to fraudulent bank statements in order to obtain mortgages.
Shabazz’s pops may deal outside of the law to acquire scratch, but he’s always been a present father and pre-ordained his son to be a ball hawk, designing his life towards achieving that goal.
Shabazz isn’t the first college baller to have family issues.This story is an eye-brow raiser, but its’ not shocking. His pops likes his bread and he’s one of those cats that wheel-n-deal to stay ahead of the race.
Money makes people do crazy things, and every journey to greatness must be funded. We can’t knock his hustle, but most unfortunately for Team Shabazz, the NBA Draft pops off on June 27th—and Muhammad’s dad is being held in Las Vegas pending a detention hearing. There’s a chance pops won’t be at BK’s Barclays Center to embrace his son and joyfully reflect on the culmination of a journey that began 21 years ago. It will surely be a bittersweet moment.
So while Holmes’ paternal guidance surely aided his son’s rise to fame, his ethical decisions as a father might result in a disheartening twist of fate—him sitting in a prison box during his son’s NBA rookie campaign rather than courtside with pride at the arena.
