Latrell Sprewell, the high-flying, volatile former NBA player best known for choking coach P.J. Carlesimo, has been arrested in Milwaukee for disorderly conduct.
According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, cops responded on the afternoon of New Year’s Eve to repeated reports of loud music at a home on Milwaukee’s east side.
Sprewell was arrested and booked into jail. Few details are available.
“Spree,” now 42, played 13 NBA seasons with the Golden State Warriors, New York Knicks and Minnesota Timberwolves. He was a supremely talented scorer who made 1st Team All NBA in 1994.
P.J. Carlesimo
But despite his smooth jumpshot and blazing speed, the 6-foot-5 guard is best known for losing his cool in December 1997 and choking then-Golden State coach P.J Carlesimo during a practice. P.J. apparently criticized the player’s passing effort, and Sprewell reportedly dragged the coach to the ground by the throat and choked him for several seconds before other players pulled him off. Then he later returned to the practice and took a few swings at the coach. (P.J. just took over as coach of the Nets last week with the firing of Avery Johnson.)
Sprewell went on to have productive seasons for the Knicks and Timberwolves, but his career ended in 2005 when he famously turned down the Timberwolves’ three-year, $21 million contract offer, saying “I’ve got a family to feed.”
In retirement Sprewell still managed to gain publicity for the wrong reasons. A 21-year-old woman accused him of choking her during sex on his yacht, called Milwaukee’s Best.
The same yacht was sold at auction as his house was foreclosed on.
And he topped the list of Wisconsin tax deadbeats, owing $3.5 million in income taxes.