Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to play while serving detention

What's the story?

The Los Angeles Times reported on Thursday that Kentavious Caldwell-Pope will be serving a 25-day sentence at the Seal Beach Police Detention Center in Orange County, California since he violated his probation.

In case you didn't know...

The 24-year-old was cited for operating a vehicle while intoxicated in March in Michigan while he played for the Detroit Pistons. He pleaded guilty in May, leading to a 12-month probation.

The heart of the matter...

The Los Angeles guard will have to serve some time in detention since he failed to abide by the orders, which instructed him to submit mandatory alcohol and drug tests as a part of probation.

Due to this detention, Pope will not be allowed to play against the Houston Rockets on 31 December 2017 and on 1 January 2018 against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

He would, however, be allowed to leave the facility to go to practice and play for Lakers in California under a work-release program, but he must wear a GPS monitor outside the detention facility.

The Seal Beach facility charges $120 per night to inmates in the work-release program. Inmates in the pay-to-stay program are allowed to have new beds, flat-screen televisions, and media centers, but after 10 P.M. they are behind bars and may not watch TV after lights out.

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

Pope was recruited in July on a one-year, $18 million deal and is averaging 14.0 points per game in his first season with the Lakers.

What's next?

The Lakers will play their last game before Christmas against the Portland Trail Blazers on Saturday.

Author's take

Although Caldwell-Pope will not be serving a large detention period and is getting to practice and play with the Lakers, he wouldn't have to go through all this if he would have obeyed the orders.