He refers to himself as a “wolf in sheep’s clothing.”
Former NBA player Ben Gordon was arrested on Monday for allegedly hitting his 10-year-old son at LaGuardia airport in New York. Sources say police took Gordon into custody after he struck his son at the Queens airport.
According to the New York Post, the British-born American athlete was waiting on a flight to Chicago when the Port Authority cuffed him and did not allow him to board his flight. The alleged abuse happened at around 8:45 p.m., according to law enforcement.
Gordon’s son was reportedly escorted by an aunt to Long Island Jewish Children’s Hospital. The minor was taken to the hospital for evaluation.
Reportedly, the officers involved in the arrest suffered minor injuries as they detained Gordon. However, there is no confirmed evidence for the cause of the injuries.
Charges against the former Chicago Bulls shooting guard are still pending as he was being processed at the Port Authority police station.
The airport misconduct would not be the first arrest for the 39-year-old, as he has been previously detained for an alleged assault and robbery in 2017. Reports state that Gordon was also caught driving with a forged license plate in a previous case, in addition to allegedly setting off the fire alarms inside his LA apartment when there was no fire. Expanding his list of reported violations, sources say he was also previously arrested in 2017 during an altercation with a woman inside a Mount Vernon store.
The retired 11-season NBA star previously spoke out about his battles with depression in 2020 in The Players’ Tribune.
“I was obsessed with killing myself,” he said.
“My whole career, I was a wolf in sheep’s clothing. But now that I don’t have basketball anymore, the wolf is coming out,” Gordon wrote. “Now I don’t care about cutting my hair anymore. Now I don’t care about shaving. Now I don’t care about anything except the thoughts inside my head.”
Since then, it has been reported that Gordon sought help towards his mental health.