Well, one of ’em, anyway. Facing charges kidnapping charges, the terminally tardy Rider gets the stalkerazzi treatment from the Marin Independent Journal’s Dave Albee.
After arriving almost an hour and a half late for his court date on Thursday, Isaiah “J.R.” Rider broke a huddle with his attorney, Garrick Lew, outside the courtroom at the Marin Civic Center and stood by himself.
Rider kept staring blankly out the window, yet he didn’t appear focused on the bumper-to-bumper southbound traffic on the highway that contributed to him being tardy and Judge Verna Adams clearly running out of patience with him. His mind was somewhere else.
People passed him in the hallway. There were no autograph requests. No adulation. They did not recognize him. They did not realize he had been a NBA draft lottery pick, a slam-dunk champion as a rookie and one of the best two guards in the game in his prime. They left him alone.
Judge Adams on Thursday finally met with Rider, who was wearing a pinstriped suit, around 11:40 a.m. She granted a continuation of his case until April 7, at 9 a.m. Then she laid down the law.
“If you’re late what will happen is a warrant will be issued for your arrest,” Judge Adams said. “Please be on time, sir. Thank you.”
“I’ll try to have my (drivers) license by then,” Rider replied, politely.
Then he walked out the courtroom door in a hurry and his mood changed when I asked to speak with him.
“Are you a white media dude?” Rider snapped. “Why would you write that, b—-?”
With no further comment, Rider walked away with a friend who had driven him to Marin.