On Tuesday, 18-year-old Pennsylvanian Jamar Evans was sentenced nine-to-20 years in prison for the drive-by shooting murder of 19-year-old Marcus Reason. Today, Evans' cousin -- Memphis stand-out Tyreke Evans -- will be made a lottery pick in the NBA Draft.As we know all too well, many professional athletes have relatives who commit heinous crimes. This almost always says nothing about the athletes. But there's a twist in this case, one which doesn't implicate Tyreke but pops your eyes wide open: when Jamar Evans shot and killed Reason, Tyreke Evans was his driver.
The Delaware County Daily Times (via Canis Hoopus) reports that Tyreke Evans was never charged in connection with the murder. The prospect was expected to testify on behalf of his cousin, the Times reports, but never did before Jamar Evans pled guilty. A relative of Reason told the Times he felt Tyreke should have been charged with accessory to murder. Tyreke's whole connection to the incident was reported in 2007, when Evans was a stud high school player in Pennsylvania.
But little mention of the murder has come up since, and it's not clear teams have been paying particular attention to Evans' pre-Memphis past. At the very least, teams desperately try to spin every little character or medical issue to deflate the stock of players they'd like to draft. It's shocking that this sentencing hasn't come up in a rumors column.
Will Tyreke's connection to the Reason murder pop up tonight like Darrell Arthur's supposed heart condition did last June, at the absolute last minute? Will Evans slip because teams have done background checks and attached private red flags? It's worth watching. If nothing else, don't be surprised when this subject pops up on ESPN this evening.
Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Anything to stir up controversy. This guy played a who season at Memphis and not a glitch on the radar and now you pop up with this article.
If Evans really was the driver, then he should be in jail.
I would have selected Rubio, I think he will have a brighter future.