The Sports Informant

Sacramento Kings forward Andres Nocioni was arrested for a DUI yesterday morning, just after his team’s game with the Atlanta Hawks. Can Sacramento catch a break? Apparently not.

According to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, which also referenced the Sacramento Bee’s report in its article, Nocioni was weaving on the road and stunk of alcohol when pulled over by a police officer. 

SeattlePI.com reported:

Sacramento, CA (Sports Network) – Sacramento Kings forward Andres Nocioni was arrested on Thursday morning just after the team played the Atlanta Hawks.

Nocioni was released later Thursday after posting bail. According to a report from the Sacramento Bee, Nocioni was weaving within his lane and had an odor of alcohol when speaking with a police officer.

The 29-year-old released a statement through the team saying he was apologetic for his actions.

Nocioni was acquired by Sacramento last season from Chicago in a trade that sent Brad Miller to the Bulls. In 379 career games with the Bulls and Kings over six seasons, Nocioni has averaged 11.8 points and 5.0 rebounds.

Is the strain of playing for the Sacramento Kings that much that players have to resort to this? It’s not like he was celebrating their loss the night before or anything. Was he drinking away the sorrows of Sacramento’s fourth loss in its first five games? I hope not, or AA will have to become another statistic on the Kings’ scorecard.

I usually credit the Kings for their off-the-court demeanor. Struggling to get wins is hard on anybody, and when your city expects you to be champions, finishing last in the league can be quite disappointing. So when the majority of the Kings put smiles on their faces, make multiple public appearances to promote the team and support the community, I applaud these NBA players doing their best to make up for a tough situation.

But Nocioni’s actions were just stupid. The Kings have never been an organization mired in controversy stemming from illegal activity. The squeaky-clean squad is managed as a class act. Even when the volitale Ron Artest roamed the area, the Kings managed to stay positive and relatively grounded. This act changes everything.

Hopefully, this is a one-time thing and the organization makes a statement immediately to recover. Because if this becomes a slippery slope, and the Kings become the Cincinnati Bengals, constantly in headlines for committing crimes, they’ll have to worry about more than just losing games. They’ll lose everything else, too.