• 16
  • July
    2012

Veteran point guard Jason Kidd is the newest member of the New York Knicks. He's also the latest member of the team to make the news.

Kidd, 39, signed last week as a free agent, was arrested yesterday and charged with driving while intoxicated.

He reportedly crashed his Cadillac Escalade into a utility pole in the Hamptons. He was treated afterwards for minor injuries and then arranged on the misdemeanor DWI.

He was reportedly driving alone in his SUV at the time of the crash.

Kidd had been signed to a three year deal worth a reported $9.5 million after leaving the Dallas Mavericks, where he'd won an NBA championship in 2011.

It was widely reportedly that the Knicks brought the veteran on-board to mentor young phenom Jeremy Lin, though those plans have apparently gone up in smoke after Lin signed a deal to join the Houston Rockets. Though the Knicks could match the offer and keep Lin, the terms of the contract with Houston are reportedly financially prohibitive, meaning the Knicks will allow last year's sensation to take his shooting and passing skills to Texas.

The Knicks have until midnight tomorrow to make a decision on Lin, however, and almost anything could happen between now and then.

Kidd now faces an array of potential penalties if he's convicted of the DWI charge, including a year in jail and revocation of his driver's license for up to a year. He would also have to have an ignition interlock device installed in not only his Escalade, but any other vehicle he drives.

Source: Cleveland Plain Dealer, "Jason Kidd arrested for DUI as Knicks lament matching Jeremy Lin offer," Lisa Olson, July 16, 2012