Former NBA Star Arrested After Allegedly Hitting 10-Year-Old Son in Airport

By Brian Jones

A former NBA star was arrested on Monday after allegedly hitting his 10-year-old son, according to PEOPLE. Ben Gordon was taken into custody early Monday morning at LaGuardia Airport in New York City as multiple witnesses saw him hit his son. PEOPLE said two officers sustained injuries when trying to arrest Gordon, who played in the NBA from 2004-2015. Gordon has been charged with assault, criminal contempt and resisting arrest. 

Gordon, 39, was selected No. 3 overall by the Chicago Bulls in 2004 after leading UConn to a national championship. He was selected to the All-Rookie team and named Sixth Man of the Year in 2005 after averaging 15.1 points and two assists per game. Gordon would play five seasons with the Bulls before signing a five-year contract with the Detroit Pistons in 2009. He was there for three seasons before being traded to the Charlotte Bobcats in 2012. He was a bench player for two seasons before ending his career with the Orlando Magic in 2014-15. 

In February 2020, Gordon revealed in The Players' Tribune that he was suffering from bipolar disorder. "Now I'm bipolar. I'm not sleeping, but I got spikes of energy." Gordon said. "I'm in my bag. I'm spontaneous. I'm doing whatever I want. It's turnup time. So now I'm not sleeping and my mind is racing and my body and my brain starts breaking down. I'm hallucinating. I'm seeing s— that isn't there. I'm hearing voices. I'm feeling like maybe God is talking to me, trying to tell me something."

Gordon also talked about how he became depressed after his final year in the NBA. "I was living in a brownstone up in Harlem," he said. "I had lost my career, my identity, and my family all pretty much simultaneously. I was manic-depressive. I wasn't eating. I wasn't sleeping. And when I say I wasn't sleeping, it was like a whole different level of insomnia. Every night, I'd wake up at the same time, like clockwork. And that's when the demons would come out. When you're up all night and it's quiet and it's just you alone with your deepest thoughts — that's when the darkness really starts to take over your whole psyche."

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