Former Sacramento Kings guard Ty Lawson was arrested July 16 after allegedly stealing a $34 bottle of Tito’s vodka from a liquor store in Castle Rock, Colorado, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by FOX31 in Denver.
The affidavit also says Lawson, 38, later directed racial insults at police while being booked into the Douglas County Jail. The California Post, a West Coast sister publication of the New York Post, reported that Lawson repeatedly called a police officer “b----” and “white b----.”
Lawson has been arrested several times since 2008, including multiple arrests for driving under the influence.
On the court, Lawson built a decorated college and pro résumé before this latest off-court incident. He was named Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year while leading North Carolina to the NCAA championship in 2009, and he also won the Bob Cousy Award, given annually to the nation’s top point guard.
He entered the NBA as the 18th overall pick in the first round of the 2009 draft and went on to average 12.7 points and 6.0 assists across eight seasons with the Denver Nuggets, Houston Rockets, Indiana Pacers and Kings.
Lawson spent his first six NBA seasons in Denver. He then played for Houston and Indiana in 2015-16 before joining Sacramento in August 2016.
His lone season with the Kings included 69 appearances and 25 starts in 2016-17, when he averaged 9.9 points and 4.8 assists in 25.1 minutes per game. In his final regular-season NBA game, Lawson recorded the first triple-double of his career, finishing with 22 points, 12 assists and 11 rebounds in a 129-104 win over the Phoenix Suns.
Lawson later signed with the Washington Wizards for the 2018 NBA playoffs, where he averaged 5.8 points and 3.0 assists in 19.2 minutes per game during a first-round series against the Toronto Raptors.
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