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 report also says Lawson, while being booked into the Douglas County Jail, repeatedly directed racial insults at a police officer, calling the officer “b----” and “white b----,” according to the California Post, a West Coast sister publication of the New York Post.
Lawson is 38 and has been arrested multiple times since 2008, including several arrests for driving under the influence.
Before his off-court issues became part of his public record, Lawson built a decorated basketball résumé. 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 with 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, then played for Houston and Indiana in 2015-16 before joining Sacramento in August 2016. He appeared in 69 games for the Kings in 2016-17, making 25 starts and averaging 9.9 points and 4.8 assists in 25.1 minutes per game.
His final regular-season NBA game produced the first triple-double of his career, a 22-point, 12-assist, 11-rebound line 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 in a first-round series against the Toronto Raptors.
In Other News...
Texas Tech Football Just Entered A New Stadium Era
Texas Tech is heading into a new chapter at the old stadium, one that changes a piece of program identity as much as it changes the signage. Athletics announced a 15-year naming rights agreement that will turn the venue into Galaxy Stadium, a move tied to a deal reported to be worth around $75 million and set to bring a new corporate era to one of the Red Raiders most recognizable football landmarks.
The change also marks the first time in the stadiums 78-year history that it will not carry the Jones name, a notable shift for a place so closely linked to the programs past. The new look will be on display Sept. 5, when Texas Tech opens at home against Abilene Christian, and the partnership is expected to extend beyond the scoreboard with NIL opportunities for student-athletes folded into the broader arrangement. [Read more 🡒]
ESPN's Latest Big 12 Shift Could Change Houston's Football Routine
ESPNs latest college football move could end up changing the weekly rhythm for Big 12 teams, including Texas Tech, as the network keeps building out its Friday-night and campus-based coverage. The Bussin With The Boys podcast is reportedly headed to ESPN with Will Compton, Taylor Lewan and Josh Pate, giving the network another live program designed to slot in around College GameDay and the growing number of weeknight games.
For the Red Raiders, that broader shift matters because the Big 12 is expected to be part of the new Friday footprint in 2026, when the schedule may look a little less traditional than it has in years past. Texas Techs own calendar already includes a Friday game in Lubbock against Houston, and while the details of ESPNs new setup are still coming into focus, it is another sign the network wants to make Fridays feel like a bigger part of the college football week. [Read more 🡒]
Lane Kiffin Just Reopened A Playoff Debate BYU Fans Hate
At SEC Media Days, Lane Kiffin used the spotlight to reopen one of college footballs most familiar arguments: how the College Football Playoff committee should compare teams that do not play the same kind of schedule. The LSU coach took aim at the SECs move to a nine-game conference slate and said the current setup makes it harder to judge teams fairly when records come from different leagues and different levels of weekly grind.
For Texas Tech fans, the debate lands in a familiar place because it always circles back to strength of schedule and the value of conference play. Kiffins comments also fit into a broader conversation about how schools schedule outside the league, including LSUs decision to cancel a future home-and-home with Arizona State, and they leave the same unresolved question hanging over the playoff race: what matters more when the committee starts sorting teams, the number in the loss column or the road a team took to get there? [Read more 🡒]