NBA | Nuggets reserve arrested in Colo.
Nuggets reserve forward DerMarr Johnson was charged with resisting arrest and interfering with police during a disturbance outside a nightclub in Greenwood Village, Colo. Police said they used a taser to calm the 6-foot-9 player.
Nuggets reserve forward DerMarr Johnson was charged with resisting arrest and interfering with police during a disturbance outside a nightclub in Greenwood Village, Colo. Police said they used a taser to calm the 6-foot-9 player.
"He apparently would not cooperate," Police Lt. Randy Corbitt said.
Johnson and two women were arrested, booked and released early Saturday. The women were charged with disturbing the peace.
Dan Recht, Johnson's lawyer, said his client was breaking up a fight between the two women.
"There was a great deal of confusion, and the police mistakenly believe he was interfering with them," Recht told the Denver Post.
Johnson, in his sixth season in the league, averaged 3.5 points and 1.5 rebounds in 10.7 minutes this season.
Nuggets' Smith still hospitalized. Nuggets guard J.R. Smith remained hospitalized yesterday after being thrown from his vehicle during a crash Saturday night, but his injuries are not believed to be as serious as first thought.
"J.R. is fine. There is nothing career- or life-threatening," Nuggets spokesman Eric Sebastian said yesterday.
Smith and a passenger, Andre Bell, 21, of East Orange, N.J., were seriously injured Saturday when the sport utility vehicle Smith was driving went through a stop sign and overturned after colliding with a car about 5:30 p.m. in Millstone Township, N.J., state police said.
Carroll Marshall, 23, another passenger in the SUV, and Lynn Sinatra, 49, of Millstone, who was driving the car, sustained minor injuries. They were taken to CentraState Medical Center in Freehold, N.J., where they were treated and later released.
Smith and Bell were ejected from the vehicle, said Lt. Brian McPherson, commander of the state police's Hamilton barracks. Bell - who sustained life-threatening head injuries - was airlifted to Jersey Shore University Hospital in Neptune, while Smith was taken there by ambulance.
Further details on their status and their injuries were not disclosed yesterday.
Smith, 21, was a star player at Lakewood High School and St. Benedict's Prep in New Jersey before being the 18th overall pick of New Orleans in the 2004 NBA draft. He averaged 13.0 points in 63 games for Denver this season.
Wizards want Arenas to stay. The Washington Wizards are committed to keeping Gilbert Arenas on the team, even after the all-star guard said he planned to opt out of the six-year, $65 million contract he signed in 2003 and become a free agent.
"Gilbert has said that his intention is to remain with our organization, and we are committed to having him spend his entire career as a Washington Wizard," Wizards president of basketball operations Ernie Grunfeld said in a statement.
