Derrick Coleman: Drunk and Disorderly

Derrick Coleman has a career on the court that was illustrious enough to retire his number, 44.  Off the court he was known for his poor attitude, disorderly conduct and substance abuse.  The reckless behavior and poor decision making ability that plagued him throughout his NBA career started as early as high school, and continued after his retirement form the NBA.

Coleman was drafted by the New Jersey Nets in 1990.  He stayed with the Nets, averaging 20 point, 10 rebound seasons.  The Nets went to the playoffs three times while Coleman was with them, but his career with the Nets started going downhill when a fellow player died in a crash and a new coach took over the team.  He sealed his fate in 1996 after multiple arguments with the new coach.  The final straw that got him traded to the Philadelphia 76ers was writing the new coach a blank check and promising to rack up plenty of fines for it to cover over the course of the season.

After being traded away from the Nets, his on court home for so many years, his off court antics started to bleed into his court time affecting his game.  He never really got back his scoring levels from his time in New Jersey, and had limited success on the Philadelphia 76ers, Charlotte Hornets and Detroit Pistons.  He finally retired in 2006 after being let go by the Pistons, unable to find a new team.

His first arrest was during college in Syracuse, for harassment and disorderly conduct.  A few years later he was arrested for arguing with a police officer and refusal to move a vehicle, which a jury later acquitted him of.  He was charged with another incident of interfering with police two years later, this time getting a $100 fine for his trouble.

In a Detroit restaurant in 1997 he was charged with public urination and disorderly conduct. He maintains his innocence on that charge in public even though he pled “no contest” during the court appearance.  He has also been pulled over several times for driving under the influence.

His most famous DUI was in 2002, where he was initially stopped for speeding (driving in excess of 100 MPH) and then with driving under the influence after he blew a .13 BAC and failed the series of sobriety tests.  That same year he paid over $800 in fines for paring violations and traffic violations while under contract to the Charlotte Hornets.

Another drunk driving incident while with the Hornets nearly cost another team mate his life. Driving under the influence on night on the back roads of North Carolina, Coleman was in a severe accident involving his SUV and a tractor trailer.  His team mate Eldridge Recasner received a collapsed lung and broken shoulder, nearly dying at the scene.  He was never tried for this incident, it was declared a mistrial instead.

Coleman has publicly whined about how his arrests are covered in the news.  He doesn’t like all the negative attention his behavior brings him.  Perhaps he should think of the consequences of being a public figure before he commits the crimes, instead of after.