Marcus Fizer:  Cocked And Loaded

Marcus Fizer (full name Darnell Marcus Lamar Fizer) was a power forward for the NBA before getting demoted to the D-Leagues for his attitude and behavior on and off the court. Fizer is another NBA player who showed great promise, only to be reduced to playing in Europe, his ride on the NBA gravy train over.

Fizer is a Michigan native who played for Iowa State, winning a place on the sporting News All America Team in his junior year. The Chicago Bulls snapped him up in the 2000 NBA draft.  Fizer never shone during his time with the Bulls.  As a power forward, he had to compete for court time with star player Elton Brand, already signed with the Bulls when Fizer was drafted.

Fizer went to free agent status in 2004 after being demoted by the Bulls to their expansion team. Once he was a free agent he was snapped up by the Milwaukee Bucks, but they dropped him after only one season of play.  Once Milwaukee dropped him from their roster and no team snatched him up, he was relegated to the D-Leagues of the NBA.

Fizer played with the Austin Toros for a while. And was named MVP during his time with them, but he still couldn’t find a home in the NBA.  He is currently playing with the European league team Macabbi Tel Aviv as a power forward.  He has also played for Spain and Puerto Rico.

Fizer is another NBA player whose bad behavior came to light under the glare of a traffic violation.  He was first pulled over in Illinois for having tinted windows.  Once the officer pulled him over he was found to have a loaded gun in the car and to be driving under a license that was suspended.

After his arrest in 2002, he had the sense to clam up – not discussing with the media at all.  His one communication at the time was a statement he sent out to the press through his lawyer apologizing to his team for his bad behavior.  The team suspended him for several games after his arrest.