{"id":785074,"date":"2026-07-12T22:51:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-12T22:51:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/785074\/"},"modified":"2026-07-12T22:51:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-12T22:51:13","slug":"moment-nba-star-brandon-clarke-is-caught-with-kratom-before-being-found-dead-in-la","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/785074\/","title":{"rendered":"Moment NBA star Brandon Clarke is caught with kratom \u2014 before being found dead in LA"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Newly released bodycam footage is shedding light on the <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/05\/12\/sports\/grizzlies-forward-brandon-clarke-dead-at-29\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">final weeks of NBA player Brandon Clarke<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The video shows <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/05\/12\/sports\/brandon-clarke-arrested-with-half-a-pound-of-drugs-weeks-before-death\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">the 29-year-old\u2019s April arrest in Arkansas<\/a> on speeding and drug possession charges\u2014just six weeks before he was found dead in Los Angeles, reported CBS.<\/p>\n<p>Newly released bodycam footage is shedding light on the final weeks of NBA player Brandon Clarke. Cross County Sheriff&#8217;s Office<\/p>\n<p>The video shows Clarke\u2019s April arrest in Arkansas. Cross County Sheriff&#8217;s Office<\/p>\n<p>Police discovered drugs in Clarke\u2019s car. Cross County Sheriff&#8217;s Office<\/p>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Bodycam footage shows NBA player Brandon Clarke&#8217;s April arrest on speeding and drug possession charges in Arkansas, six weeks before the 29-year-old died in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n<p>Inside Clarke&#8217;s bag was kratom, a supplement derived from leaves that is often sold at gas stations and is\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/tqMCNPfdNL\" rel=\"nofollow\">pic.twitter.com\/tqMCNPfdNL<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 CBS News (@CBSNews) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/CBSNews\/status\/2076376165862842543?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow\">July 12, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Police say <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/05\/12\/health\/what-is-kratom-the-drug-brandon-clarke-was-arrested-for-possessing\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Clarke was carrying kratom<\/a>, a leaf-derived supplement frequently sold as an energy booster or pain reliever\u2014 better known as \u201cgas station heroin.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While Clarke\u2019s official cause of death is still under investigation, the footage has renewed national scrutiny over the safety of kratom, a substance the FDA has repeatedly warned the public about. He was found dead on May 11 in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n<p>Clarke played for the Memphis Grizzlies. USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Con<\/p>\n<p>While Clarke\u2019s official cause of death is still under investigation, the footage has renewed national scrutiny over the safety of kratom. Cross County Sheriff&#8217;s Office<\/p>\n<p>Police say Clarke was carrying kratom, a leaf-derived supplement frequently sold as an energy booster or pain reliever\u2014 better known as \u201cgas station heroin.\u201d Cross County Sheriff&#8217;s Office<\/p>\n<p>Clarke played his entire seven-year NBA career with the Memphis Grizzlies after he was select 21st overall in the 2019 draft. His collegiate career began at San Jose State before transferring to Gonzaga.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Newly released bodycam footage is shedding light on the final weeks of NBA player Brandon Clarke. The video&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":785075,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3724],"tags":[593,7,2710,160,4250,95258,251,177,7904,6,10461,43160,66],"class_list":["post-785074","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-basketball","tag-arkansas","tag-basketball","tag-brandon-clarke","tag-california","tag-gonzaga-bulldogs","tag-kratom","tag-los-angeles","tag-memphis-grizzlies","tag-metro","tag-nba","tag-police","tag-san-jose","tag-sports"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116909459623599555","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/785074","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=785074"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/785074\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/785075"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=785074"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=785074"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=785074"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}