Speaking on All The Smoke podcast with Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson, LA Lakers legend James Worthy revealed a range of details about the 1980s “Showtime Lakers.” Boasting the likes of Worthy, Magic Johnson, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, a number of stars achieved worldwide fame and lived a controversial lifestyle. Worthy, who was arrested in November 1990 on the charge of solicitation of prostitution according to LA Times, claimed that the controversy effectively forced him to get married.
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He revealed that while he wanted to be loyal to his wife, he just could not handle the glamour and the crazy lifestyle that came with the team. The now 62-year-old said that he was still figuring himself out in the 20s, but ended up acting out due to the internalization and the uncertainty that he felt on a daily basis.
James Worthy reveals details about crazy lifestyle during the 1980s
Worthy won a total of 3 NBA championships in 4 seasons starting from 1985. Living in Los Angeles, he also regularly frequented strip clubs and lived a lifestyle that he could only describe as “crazy”.
He revealed that he spent a couple of years alone without his girlfriend and high school sweetheart Angela Wilder. That proved to be a death wish which eventually led to an arrest:
“Man it was shitball crazy in the 80s man. It was just crazy. You know, the hotels, the lifestyle. I am really glad there wasn’t a social media back then. It was fun but it was dangerous. It was just freefall. For a country boy like me, who only had two girlfriends, it forced me to get married. Because I was out here for a couple years alone and it was a death wish. I couldn’t handle it.”
Worthy claimed that he had spent his entire 20s still figuring himself out. He revealed that the controversy effectively forced him to marry his high school sweetheart Angela Wilder. Speaking about the kind of mindset he had, Worthy claimed that he needed a mentor back then, and simply could not deal with the attention and the fame he received in Los Angeles:
“On a serious note, If you’re not absolutely sure who you are and it should be a process that you go through you should not be in a seriously committed relationship or get married. I spent my entire 20s internalizing, and I didn’t wanna go to the strip clubs. I was trying to be loyal to my wife but all the uncertainty and all the internalization called at me to start using an escort service. Coz I wanted some s*x, and I wanted to be told I was handsome. You make up all these excuses for yourself.
A lot of guys started doing drugs. It is the athlete on one side that you see, who was a badass in public. But when you sit in a hotel room by yourself and your real shit comes, you got a winning formula that keeps you going here. When you get back over here, you realize, you hate that over here. So it always comes out, in some kind of way. So you really got to have a great mentor, someone to listen to.”
While he had his regrets and felt a lot of pressure when he was alone, that can be forgiven. Worthy was still in his 20s and had a lot of self-discovery to achieve despite the fame. His marriage with Wilder survived the controversies, eventually coming to an end in 1996. However, the overall experience appears to have left a lasting impact on James Worthy.
Facing charges of soliciting prostitution, James Worthy was arrested in November 1990
Back in November 1990, Worthy’s LA Lakers played against the Houston Rockets in Houston. The Lakers won the game 108-103 and Worthy came off the bench to score 24 points.
Worthy contacted an escort service in the early hours of the next day. Unbeknownst to him, it was already being monitored by the police. This resulted in quite a bit of trouble.
After being confirmed to have asked for a transaction, he was quickly arrested. Worthy eventually paid fines worth $5000. The controversy immediately led to backlash from the media and fans. Worthy was also not allowed to play in the NBA until the amount was paid.
