Former NBA first-round pick Lazar Hayward was one of two Californians arrested for submitting fake COVID-19 test results to the state of Hawaii in an attempt to avoid a quarantine for travelers entering the state, according to multiple reports.
Hayward, 34, and Raven Randle, 33, flew from Los Angeles to Kauai, and they “uploaded falsified negative test results into the Hawaii Safe Travels portal,” according to the Associated Press. Travelers to the state have to submit either COVID vaccination proof or a recent negative test, and Hayward and Randle used fake ones flagged by screeners.
Sigh.
— Gigi Graciette (@GigiGraciette) October 2, 2021
Authorities in Hawaii arrested Lazar Hayward Jr and Raven Randle for uploading falsified Covid-19 negative test results to state database. They then flew from Los Angeles to Hawaii where they were booked and immediately put on a plane back to LA. https://t.co/aNll32LjsM
The two were met by Kauai police and state officials when the plane landed and were arrested. When released, they immediately boarded a plane back to Los Angeles. Neither has commented publicly on the incident.
Hayward and Randle are not the first two, just two of the latest to be arrested for the same thing. Hawaii continues to have strict rules for travel as it tries to manage the pandemic and the Delta variant outbreak that has hit the nation hard. Travel has been restricted to the point that the Maui Invitational — the major college basketball tournament the weekend before Thanksgiving on the island of Maui — has been moved to Las Vegas for this season.
Hayward was the No. 30 pick of the Wizards in the 2010 NBA Draft, out of Marquette. He played three seasons and 72 games between Minnesota and Oklahoma City (he was a member of the 2012 Thunder team that made the NBA Finals), bouncing between the G-League and NBA. He never played in the NBA again, although his rights were picked up at points by Houston and New Orleans, who waived him, and he played for several G-League teams.
