During his time at Norcross High School,[1] Lawal was named to the McDonald's All-American Team, following his senior season, and was Mr. Basketball 2007 in Georgia.

[4] As a freshman in 2007–08, Lawal scored 10 points on 5-of-6 shots, with four rebounds at Duke, snapping a streak of six games in single digits.

[5] As a sophomore in 2008–09, Lawal scored a career-best 34 points[6] in an 85–83 Georgia Tech loss to Penn State, on December 3, 2008.

During the 2011 NBA lockout, Lawal played for Zastal Zielona Góra of the Polish Basketball League.

On December 27, 2011, Lawal signed with the Xinjiang Flying Tigers to replace the outgoing Kenyon Martin.

[22] On August 9, 2013, Lawal signed a one-year deal with the Latvian League team VEF Rīga.

[32] On July 14, 2015, Lawal signed a one-year deal with Emporio Armani Milan, returning to the club for a second stint.

[38] On January 2, 2016, he made his debut with Westchester in a 106–97 win over Delaware, recording nine points, five rebounds, two steals and one block in 21 minutes.

[40] Three days later, he made his debut for Reno in a 121–115 loss to the Santa Cruz Warriors, recording 11 points and 12 rebounds in 14 minutes.

[45] On July 26, 2017, Lawal signed a one-year deal with Karesi Spor of the Turkish Basketball First League.

[47] In May 2019, Lawal signed with the Meralco Bolts of the Philippine Basketball Association as their import for the 2019 PBA Commissioner's Cup.

In the summer of 2017, Lawal competed in The Basketball Tournament on ESPN for the number one-seeded FCM Untouchables.

Competing for the $2 million grand prize, Lawal averaged 6.7 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game while shooting 62% from the field.