Joe Forte: Pot and Alcohol Led To Playing In Italian League

Joe Forte has not had an illustrious career in the NBA.  One team he played for was the Boston Celtics.  Most people would never remember he played with the Celtics if it were not for his trademark Scooby Doo t-shirt he used to wear in the sidelines.  When your biggest career NBA memory for one of the teams you played with for years is what t-shirt you wore… that’s truly forgettable.

Forte showed promise in college.  A product of University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, he was 2000 ACC Rookie of the Year and 2000 ACC Men’s Basketball Player of the Year.  Because of his college playing record he was drafted by the Boston Celtics out of college during the 2001 draft.

Forte stayed with the Celtics for two seasons, leaving them for the Seattle SuperSonics. He was with the SuperSonics for two seasons as well.  He started his career in college and the NBA as a natural shooting guard. With the Sonics he was switched to point guard and his scoring average started to decline.

Perhaps because of his struggles on the court with the Sonics, his off court time started to become rocky as well.  He was eventually kicked off the Seattle SuperSonics for arrests. During the two seasons he was with the Sonics, he was arrested for gun, drug and assault violations. 

Because his playing had been so spotty for two seasons, and his off court issues had caused him to be released by the Sonics, Forte was not signable in the NBA.  When he couldn’t get picked up in the NBA A-List he signed with the Asheville, North Carolina “Altitude” for the 2004-2005 season.  He is currently playing in the Italian leagues.

When he was with the Seattle Supersonics, he antagonized his coaches and team mates by ignoring the NBA dress code, starting arguments and antagonizing his coaches, picking fights with team mates (to the point where one attacked him he was so aggravated) and more.  He took his reckless behavior and poor choices off the court by getting in trouble with the law.

After his first season in Seattle, he was pulled over for speeding on his way home on night.  Not only was ticketed for going 90 in a 55 MPH zone, he was cited for marijuana possession and having a gun concealed on his person – a .22 caliber pistol.  He didn’t contest the arrest – even in his unsettled mental state he knew he was walking a fine line.

Later that same year, he was arrested in Maryland. This time the charges were for assault. Forte punched a fan in the face on the sidelines during a game where the SuperSonics played Maryland.  The fan had been heckling him, and Forte was unable to keep his temper.  Once he was let go from the SuperSonics, he had no more problems with legal issues or attitude.  Even so, he has still been unable to land a new spot in the NBA – he has acquired a reputation as a hot headed untouchable player, relegated to the European leagues.