From the San Francisco Chronicle’s Jim Herron Zamora. (link courtesy True Hoop)
Oakland police reported Tuesday that former NBA player Isaiah “J.R.” Rider, 35, was arrested early Sunday for felony cocaine possession at a home in the Oakland hills.
Lt. James Meeks would not say how much cocaine was found nor would he elaborate on details of the bust. Rider was arrested at 5:10 a.m. in the 600 block of Hiller Drive, near the Caldecott Tunnel.
The 1994 NBA slam-dunk champion whose career was cut short by legal troubles, Rider also is awaiting trial in Marin County on a kidnapping charge involving a former girlfriend.
I’m no expert on legal matters, but perhaps J.R. can try the ever-popular “the house belongs to Carmelo Anthony” defense.
(not raping anybody!)
Refering to Bob Kravitz as “some idiot at the Indianapolis Star”, Basketbawful takes umbrage at the suggestion Indy’s gonna miss Austin Croshere when he’s gone.
Even though its premise is completely insane, the article didn’t come as any great shock to me. This is the kind of witless story that gets vomited up every time a team trades away a moderately productive veteran. It’s basically a polite way of saying, “[Insert Name Here] didn’t bring enough to the table to justify keeping him, but he accepted his role on the team and, as far as we know, he didn’t rape or kill anybody.”
To prove Croshere was a vital cog in the Pacers Machine, the writer basically went on a rant about how dysfunctional the rest of the team is. I really can’t argue with that. Stephon Jackson is a thug who’d probably be robbing a 7-11 right now if he wasn’t an NBA millionaire. David Harrison was bordine psychotic, until he finally crossed the border. And most of the other players are either perpetually injured or constantly sulking about their role on the team.
But not Austin. He hit the lottery when he signed that long-term contract after the 2000 NBA Finals, and he knew it. Plus, since he’d fallen so far below expectations, nobody expected anything from him anymore. A huge contract and absolutely no responsibility — hell, he was just happy to be there. And as it turned out, he was the only guy happy to be there. I guess that made him relevant somehow, but I’m still trying to figure out how exactly.