Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to miss three road games as part of plea deal

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. -- Kentavious Caldwell-Pope says he will not be able to play in three Los Angeles Lakersroad games outside California in the next few weeks due to a modified 25-day restriction stemming from a plea agreement he reached on a misdemeanor offense while with the Detroit Pistons.

If the Lakers guard complies with this restriction, he is slated to miss games at Houston on Dec. 20, at Houston again on Dec. 31 and at Minnesota on Jan. 1.

The only other Lakers road game during the 25-day restriction, which was given to Caldwell-Pope following a court appearance in Michigan this past week, is at Golden State on Dec. 22. Caldwell-Pope will be able to play in that game since he will not be leaving the state.

Caldwell-Pope already has missed one road game due to the restriction and was not with the team for the Lakers' 121-112 loss at Cleveland on Thursday.

"With the court situation, we came up with the agreement that, I still get to carry on with my season but only in the state of California for the 25-day restriction that I have," Caldwell-Pope said after practice Saturday. "I was blessed that I am able to continue to play ball."

"It was always a possibility that I would continue to play," the guard added. "I just had agreed to some restrictions in order for me to continue to play."

Caldwell-Pope was originally cited for operating a vehicle while intoxicated but pleaded guilty in May to the lesser charge of allowing someone to operate his vehicle while under the influence, which carried a 12-month probation. Caldwell-Pope left the Lakers following a game in New York on Tuesday to go to Michigan, where he learned he had to return to California and miss Thursday's game in Cleveland to start an intensive program over the next 25 days with the intention of ending his probation early.

"While a member of the Detroit Pistons last year, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope plead guilty to a misdemeanor offense of allowing someone to operate his vehicle under the influence. As a condition of that plea, he was subject to extremely strict and challenging compliance terms by the court,"Caldwell-Pope's attorney Jeffrey Lance Abood said in a statement. "Kentavious complied with most of the terms of his probation and he has had no further driving or other infractions since that time.

"As a result of his professional basketball work schedule, the court has modified the sentence and released him from probation early so long as he completes an intensive program over the next 25 days. There will be some travel restrictions, but we are pleased that Kentavious will now continue with his NBA season and move forward in a positive manner from this experience."

Caldwell-Pope, who signed a one-year, $18 million contract with the Lakers as a free agent, is averaging 14.2 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game while shooting 36.1 percent from 3-point range. The Lakers have leaned on Caldwell-Pope, 24, to provide veteran leadership, turn the Lakers' defense around and at times be the team's closer in close games.

"He is one of those guys that hits big shots for us, and when you are on the road, you can stall out a little bit like we have a tendency to do from time to time, and he is somebody that can get it going and hit two or three straight jumpers or make a big play on defense or get a steal for us," Lakers coach Luke Walton said. "There are things from both ends of the floor that we will miss from him, but it was nice having him back with us today in practice."

On Saturday, the Lakers released a statement saying the team is "abiding by the terms of a program for Kentavious that were established for him by a court in the state of Michigan."

Caldwell-Pope was suspended under the NBA's personal conduct policy for the Lakers' first two games of the season. The Lakers started rookie guard Josh Hart in place of Caldwell-Pope in Cleveland, and Hart responded with a career-high 11 points and 10 rebounds in his first start.

"It has been very disappointing to me as well, as far as my teammates. I feel like I let them down, as well, my coaches, the organization," Caldwell-Pope said. "I just have to deal with this legal situation that came with it."