Los Angeles Lakers center Deandre Ayton was briefly detained Tuesday at Lynden Pindling International Airport in Nassau, Bahamas, after authorities suspected he was in possession of a “very small amount of marijuana,” his lawyer, Devard Francis, said. Ayton, 27, who is also a member of the Bahamian national basketball team, was quickly released following a short investigation.
Francis explained that the marijuana was actually found in another person’s bag, not Ayton’s, and authorities confirmed this before releasing him. “The investigators saw that the actual very small amount of marijuana wasn't in Deandre's bag, but they still went through their investigations and he was released expeditiously,” he told Reuters.
While marijuana has been removed from the NBA’s banned substances list under the current CBA, it remains illegal in the Bahamas. Ayton, in his first season with the Lakers, is set to return to action after the All-Star break when Los Angeles hosts the Clippers on Friday.
