--- title: Rasual Butler and Leah LaBelle Killed in Car Accident description: Former NBA player Rasual Butler and his wife Leah LaBelle were killed early Wednesday morning in a car accident in Studio City, Los Angeles canonical: https://time.com/5127829/rasual-butler-car-accident/ author: Alix Langone article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-01-31T22:11:00.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T19:05:49.191Z article:section: U.S. og:title: Rasual Butler and Leah LaBelle Killed in Car Accident og:description: Former NBA player Rasual Butler and his wife Leah LaBelle were killed early Wednesday morning in a car accident in Studio City, Los Angeles og:url: https://time.com/5127829/rasual-butler-car-accident/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6f12b6d1e6bb7823/6988fa26e76ad2358d630d7c/rasual-butler-leah-labelle-car-crash.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: rasual-butler-leah-labelle-car-crash.jpg og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Rasual Butler and Leah LaBelle Killed in Car Accident twitter:description: Former NBA player Rasual Butler and his wife Leah LaBelle were killed early Wednesday morning in a car accident in Studio City, Los Angeles twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6f12b6d1e6bb7823/6988fa26e76ad2358d630d7c/rasual-butler-leah-labelle-car-crash.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Former NBA Player Rasual Butler and Wife Killed in Car Crash by [Alix Langone](/author/alix-langone/) ## Alix Langone Jan 31, 2018 10:11 PM CUT  NBA player Rasual Butler and singer Leah LaBelle attend The Players' Awards presented by BET at the Rio Hotel & Casino on July 19, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. NBA player Rasual Butler and singer Leah LaBelle attend The Players' Awards presented by BET at the Rio Hotel & Casino on July 19, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada.Gabe Ginsberg - Getty Images for BET by [Alix Langone](/author/alix-langone/) ## Alix Langone Jan 31, 2018 10:11 PM CUT Former NBA player Rasual Butler and his wife Leah LaBelle were killed in a single vehicle crash early Wednesday morning in Los Angeles. The crash, which took place in Studio City, was called in to police around 2:30 a.m., who reported that Butler’s Range Rover was traveling at speeds two to three times higher than the limit, [according to KNBC](https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Two-People-Dead-After-Car-Plows-Into-Studio-City-Building-471914503.html "undefined"). Butler lost control of the car and hit a parking meter before flipping over and crashing into a wall, [_Sports Illustrated_ said](https://www.si.com/nba/2018/01/31/rasual-butler-death-wife-killed-fatal-car-crash "undefined"). Butler, who was 38 years old, had a long career in the NBA, having been drafted out of La Salle in by the Miami Heat in the 2002 NBA Draft. He went on to play for eight different NBA teams including the Hornets, Clippers, Bulls, Raptors, Pacers and Wizards. Butler played in the 2015-16 season for the San Antonio Spurs and most recently played basketball in entertainer Ice Cube’s [BIG3 League](https://www.si.com/nba/2017/09/01/big3-ice-cube-allen-iverson-floyd-mayweather-conor-mcgregor-las-vegas "undefined"). Over the course of his career he averaged 7.5 points and 2.4 rebounds, [according to _ESPN_](http://www.espn.com/nba/story/%5F/id/22275745/former-nba-player-rasual-butler-38-dies-car-crash "undefined"). LaBelle, who was 31 years old, was an [R&B singer who signed to Epic Records](https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/hip-hop/8097504/rasual-butler-leah-labelle-dead "undefined") after appearing on the third season of _American Idol_ in 2004. Former teammates and musicians are expressing sorrow and sharing memories of the basketball player and his wife on social media. > [](https://twitter.com/paulpierce34/status/958776322083274752) > [](https://twitter.com/alleniverson/status/958782684121239552) > [](https://twitter.com/JabariJYoung/status/958763997897125888) > [](https://twitter.com/iamjojo/status/958803474015121408) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5127829/rasual-butler-car-accident/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5127829/rasual-butler-car-accident/"},"headline":"Former NBA Player Rasual Butler and Wife Killed in Car Crash","datePublished":"2018-01-31T22:11:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T19:05:49.191Z","description":"The former NBA reportedly lost control of his car and slammed into a wall","url":"https://time.com/5127829/rasual-butler-car-accident/","keywords":["Sports","U.S.","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6f12b6d1e6bb7823/6988fa26e76ad2358d630d7c/rasual-butler-leah-labelle-car-crash.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alix Langone","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alix-langone/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6f12b6d1e6bb7823/6988fa26e76ad2358d630d7c/rasual-butler-leah-labelle-car-crash.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"rasual-butler-leah-labelle-car-crash.jpg","caption":"BET Presents The Players' Awards - Arrivals","creditText":"Gabe Ginsberg - Getty Images for BET","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/sports/","name":"Sports"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5127829/rasual-butler-car-accident/","name":"Former NBA Player Rasual Butler and Wife Killed in Car Crash"}}]}] ```