British-born American former professional basketball player Ben Gordon has been arrested at LaGuardia airport in Los Angeles and accused of beating his 10-year-old son.
According to The New York Post, Gordon was awaiting a flight to Chicago when Port Authority cops barred him from getting onto the plane and cuffed him over the alleged abuse at 8:45 p.m., law enforcement sources told the Post.
His son was escorted by an aunt and taken to Long Island Jewish Children’s Hospital for evaluation, the sources said.
Gordon, a shooting guard who once played for the Chicago Bulls, was being processed at the Port Authority police station house. Charges against him are pending.
Police sources said two Port Authority officers received minor injuries while making the arrest, though it’s not immediately
In 2020, Gordon recounted in The Players Tribune his struggle with depression and his mental health issues, per Marca.
"I went six weeks where there wasn't a day that went by that I didn't think about killing myself. I was on the roof of my apartment at four o'clock in the morning, looking down and thinking 'I'm going to do it. I'm going to put all this crap behind me,'" Gordon explained.
"It was right after my last NBA season. I had run out of career, identity and family all at about the same time. I was manic depressive. I wasn't eating. I wasn't sleeping and that's when paranoia and anxiety make you their own," said the former player.
Ben Gordon showed incredible promise when he burst onto the NBA scene as a rookie in the 2004-05 campaign. After being drafted by the Chicago Bulls at No. 3 in 2004, Gordon became an elite bench player for the Bulls as a rookie and became the first man in NBA history to win Sixth Man of the Year as a rookie.
Gordon had a solid 11-year career in the NBA that ended in 2015. While he has tried staying around the game of basketball, Gordon has had multiple personal issues bothering him. This has come to the forefront once again as Gordon was arrested at LaGuardia airport for striking his 10-year-old son prior to a flight the family was supposed to take to Chicago.
Gordon reportedly suffers from bipolar disorder and has had prior interactions with law enforcement, being arrested in 2017 for pulling fire alarms and punching the manager of an apartment complex, pulling a knife on him, and robbing him of his security deposit later that year.
We wish Gordon the best of luck in getting through his current struggles and coming out as a stronger person. NBA players bring fans so much joy, as Gordon did to the Chicago area in the early-2000s before Derrick Rose was drafted by the franchise in 2008, per Fadeaway World.
Gordon's time with Chicago would end when he signed a lucrative 5-year contract with the Detroit Pistons after Rose's rookie season in Chicago. He would then be traded to the Charlotte Bobcats and later play his last NBA game for the Orlando Magic in 2015.
Gordon got a preseason invite to be a part of the Golden State Warriors ahead of their championship-winning 2015 season but was waived by the team. He averaged 14.9 points for his career.
Sources: The New York Post, Marca, Fadeaway World