Membership In "The James Bond Gang" May Have Cost Troubled Basketball Player His NBA Dream

In 2004, Sean Banks was named Conference USA freshman of the year for his court work at the University of Memphis. A year later, he was declared academically ineligible for his school work, or lack thereof. What followed was an undrafted free-agent singing with the Hornets that ended because of his street-gang work and "continual scrapes with the law." So, he tried D-league.

Banks was said to be frustrated by the low pay the development league players received and believed he could make it in the NBA where he could rake in the bigger bucks. But he could not fully discipline himself, nor shake off his gang connections. The lure of quick and easy money obtained through illegal activities was too great a temptation for Banks to resist.

All of which brings us to last week's story about his post-car-chase arrest in connection with a "string of home burglaries across northwest New Jersey."

The recent rash of high-end burglaries committed by well-prepared teams of three or four who case wealthy neighborhoods in rented luxury cars, find unoccupied homes just around dusk, break through front doors, disable alarms, and get in and out with jewelry and cash before police can respond to the alarms, are said to part of a well-known ring known as the James Bond Gang.

But the recent perps may only be affiliates, relatives, or even copy cats of the original gang that dates back to the '80s and '90s and netted millions in stolen goods before they were eventually stopped by police.

Sparta Police nab four burglars [The Sparta Independent]

Sean Banks [University of Memphis]

Former pro basketball player among 4 Bergen County members of 'James Bond Gang' arrested last week [The Star-Ledger]