Warriors forward Anthony Lamb accused of rape in civil suit against University of Vermont

Editor’s note: This story is about an alleged sexual assault.

Warriors two-way forward Anthony Lamb has been accused of rape in a civil lawsuit that alleges the University of Vermont violated Title IX by mishandling procedures for sexual harassment and violence on campus.

Lamb, 24, has not been charged with a crime and is not named as a defendant in the lawsuit, filed Tuesday in U.S. district court by three former undergraduate students. But the 80-page suit alleges that he raped a fellow student in 2019 and the university failed to investigate properly.

In a written statement Thursday, Lamb called the allegations “patently false.”

“I have always been fully cooperative regarding the alleged incident, and have welcomed any investigation into the matter,” Lamb said. “Simply put, I have never committed sexual assault.”

The Bay Area News Group does not typically name victims of sexual violence. The woman, Kendall Ware, came forward by name as a plaintiff in the civil case and has spoken extensively about the incident, though this is the first time she is directly naming Lamb as her alleged assailant.

The university, its board of trustees and several officials in the Title IX office and athletic department are defendants in the filing, which seeks compensatory damages of an unspecified amount.

Ware, a former swimmer at Vermont who had a previous relationship with Lamb, says in the suit that Lamb raped her in the fall of 2019. When Ware reported the incident to the university’s Title IX office, the suit says that school officials improperly contacted the athletic department after she made the allegation.

The lawsuit claims the athletic department staffers reached out directly to Ware and misled her in an attempt to prevent a formal process from occurring, instead going to an “informal restitution” process that would allow Lamb, the star player on the men’s basketball team at the time, to “escape any meaningful consequences for his actions.”

Attorneys for firms representing the plaintiffs declined to comment when reached Thursday.

While this is the first formal accusation against Lamb, anonymous social media posts surfaced more than 18 months ago accusing Lamb of sexual assault. The Warriors said in October upon converting Lamb’s training camp deal to a full-season two-way contract that they were aware of the allegations and had spoken to the league and Lamb’s former NBA teams about the allegations before inviting him to training camp. The team reiterated that position when asked for comment Thursday.

“Anthony is not a defendant in this recent lawsuit and, to our knowledge, he has never been charged with any wrongdoing in any legal case,” the Warriors said in a written statement. “Prior to signing Anthony in September, we did our due diligence with the NBA and his prior teams, as we do with all players. If any new information comes to light, we will certainly evaluate it and act accordingly.”

Warriors general manager Bob Myers was not made available for comment Thursday but previously said the team contacted the league and Lamb’s previous teams about the anonymous allegations against him.

“It’s tough because we take that very seriously,” Myers said Oct. 16. “But at the same time, it’s difficult because if somebody is accused of something but not charged or convicted, and we then deny them an opportunity, is that fair, too? But again, that’s something we take very seriously. But we can only at times look at what the law has done and also follow the leadership of the NBA.

“If the NBA had said this is not something we’d recommend or do, or there’s an ongoing investigation, we would not have moved forward. They have more information than we do in this situation and we had to lean on that. We had to lean on the prior teams that signed him. Our general counsel looked into it himself.”

The NBA did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday. University of Vermont spokesman Enrique Corredera told Seven Days, an independent news outlet in Vermont that first reported on the lawsuit, that the school will not be addressing questions pertaining to the suit.

Ware accused Lamb of raping her when they were students at Vermont at his off-campus residence during a men’s basketball team party in September 2019, the suit said. During the assault, Lamb repeatedly ignored Ware’s pleas to stop, according to the suit, which says Ware repeatedly told him “no” and claims Lamb replied, “just take it.”

The assault, which happened after the two ended their six-month-long relationship the summer before, weighed heavily on Ware, who had suicidal thoughts and fell into a deep depression, the suit said.

“Ware was terrified of reporting Lamb,” the suit said. “In such a small state, to many, Lamb was a bona fide celebrity both on and off campus. Ware was afraid of the repercussions of reporting him to the school authorities, let alone to the police.”

Lamb played in all 33 of Vermont’s men’s basketball games in the 2019-20 season and led the team in points (16.7) and rebounds (7.1) per game. The suit claims athletic department officials intentionally misled Ware in order to prevent Lamb from being suspended from the basketball team.

The Warriors were off Thursday after losing to the Jazz in Utah the night before, a game in which Lamb played 16 minutes for Golden State, but practiced Friday.

If you or someone you know is struggling with feelings of depression or suicidal thoughts, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline offers free, round-the-clock support, information and resources for help. Reach the lifeline at 988 or 800-273-8255, or see the 988lifeline.org website.