Traded NBA star has been accused of regularly practicing drunk

EVENTUALLY his off-court demons followed this NBA star to training and his teammates could smell the problem.

IT was no surprise to the Denver Nuggets when their star player Ty Lawson was arrested for a DUI in January.

It was no surprise when it happened again last week.

It’s because they could smell it on him.

Nuggets’ president Josh Kroenke has revealed Lawson abused alcohol for a “couple of years” and would show up for training with alcohol still in his system.

The 27-year-old was traded to Houston this week as part of a complex trade that saw the Rockets give up four players and a future first-round draft pick in exchange for Lawson and a second-round draft pick.

Lawson had been the Nuggets’ best player of the past two seasons and still averaged 15.2 points per game last season despite the team’s poor season that finished with a 30-52 win-loss record.

But after he was arrested for a second DUI earlier this month, Denver decided it was no longer in the team’s best interest to keep Lawson around.

It traded him five days after he was arrested on suspicion of drink driving on July 14.

Lawson is still completing a 30-day residential rehabilitation program.

Kroenke said Lawson’s issues appear to be serious “life struggles”.

“There were just a lot of times where you were at practice and you just know,” Kroenke said of Lawson’s alcohol abuse.

“You could smell it. You know there is probably deeper issues than he would probably let on.

“He always had an affinity for burning the candle at both ends.

“We want to give our players freedom to be young guys as well. We’re not going to be drill sergeants. But we want our guys to be able to handle their personal lives on their own.

“There were times when he was better than others. But the problems have been there for several years, going back to when we were having a lot of on-court success.

“I don’t want to go back too far.”

Kroenke said his organisation still wants Lawson to succeed in his new team, but admits he has rarely spoken to the point guard since his first DUI charge, when it became apparent he would likely have to be traded.

“I love Ty and will always love Ty, but once I saw him going down this dark path, we knew that we probably were going to end up in a situation where we were dumping him. It creates a weird dynamic,” he said.

Lawson will front court on August 20 over his first DUI arrest.

Originally published as Traded NBA star has been accused of regularly practicing drunk