He played college basketball for the North Carolina Tar Heels where he won the 2009 national championship his junior year.

Lawson attended sixth and seventh grade at Gwynn Park Middle School in Prince George's County, Maryland.

During his sophomore year, he averaged 12.7 points and 5.3 assists per game, although he saw much less playing time due to an ankle sprain that kept him out much of the season.

In spite of this nagging injury, he eventually returned to help Carolina repeat as both ACC regular season and tournament champions and ultimately earn a berth to the Final Four.

He was not charged with a DWI because he was below the legal limit of .08 BAC, but still received misdemeanors due to state law prohibiting anyone under the age of 21 from driving after drinking any amount of alcohol.

[8] Lawson was also a consensus second-team all-American as a junior, making him eligible to have his jersey honored in the rafters of the Smith Center at the conclusion of his college career.

This gave the Denver Nuggets an opportunity to get a quality player as they traded their future draft pick to Minnesota in exchange for Lawson.

[22] On December 18, he was suspended for two games by the NBA based on his guilty plea in November for driving while impaired and a lane usage violation after leaving a party in Denver in January 2015.

[26] He made his debut for the Pacers later that night at home against the San Antonio Spurs, managing just five minutes of action before spraining his left ankle during the second quarter, which ruled him out for the rest of the game.

[29] On April 11, 2017, in his 551st NBA game, Lawson recorded his first career triple-double with 22 points, 12 assists and 11 rebounds in a 129–104 win over the Phoenix Suns.

[30] On August 9, 2017, Lawson signed a one-year, $2.4 million contract with the Shandong Golden Stars of the Chinese Basketball Association.

[44] On April 4, 2023, Lawson was fired from Gaiteros del Zulia allegedly for indiscipline[45] even though he was having an excellent season with the team, regularly leading statistical categories.

In 2008, 20-year-old Lawson pleaded guilty to underage drinking and driving after registering a .03 blood-alcohol level during a traffic stop in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

Additional charges of violating a noise ordinance and driving with a revoked or suspended license were dropped and Lawson was required only to complete 20 hours of community service.

[47] On August 17, 2013, Lawson and his girlfriend, Ashley Pettiford, were arrested by police in Arapahoe County responding to a domestic violence call.

[51] On July 17, a Denver judge ruled that Lawson would be required to spend a month at a residential rehabilitation center before facing DUI charges in either Colorado or California.

[50] In February 2022, Lawson was arrested in Madrid after two altercations at an airport restaurant, with Spanish newspaper Marca reporting he had thrown a glass at a customer.