Keon Clark is a name few NBA fans remember. Clark played six years in the NBA for four different teams. He was mainly used as a reserve, including being the backup to Vlade Divac on the Sacramento Kings during the 2002-03 season.
His best tenure came with the Toronto Raptors in the 2001-02 season, as he started a career-high 31 games in the season. Clark also averaged a career-best 11.3 points and 7.4 rebounds per game. In the playoffs that year, Clark also averaged his postseason career highs of 13.4 points and 8.0 rebounds per game.
Clark’s best game of his career occurred on March 23, 2001, in a home game for the Raptors vs. the Atlanta Hawks. The big man scored 13 points and grabbed 8 rebounds, but these weren’t what made his performance memorable.
Clark set a Raptors record for blocks in a game with 12. Toronto ended up defeating Atlanta 112-86.
For his career, Clark averaged 8.2 points and 5.9 rebounds per game, which isn’t terrible numbers, but also numbers that don’t jump out at you. Still, if anyone does remember Clark, it isn’t necessary for what he did on the basketball court, but rather what he did at halftime during games.
Keon Clark Admits To Drinking Alcohol At Halftime
Keon Clark’s final season in the NBA came during the 2003-04 season when he played only two games for the Utah Jazz. After his NBA career ended, Clark’s life fell apart.
In 2006, Clark was set to stand trial on drug and weapon charges, but he never showed up for his court date. Instead, Clark boarded a bus in Houston, Texas, and was caught before he could leave the country.
Clark was sentenced to two and a half years in prison, but a judge threw out his sentence because Clark did not have a lawyer during his initial trial. So, the judge ordered a retrial, and Clark took the stand and shocked everyone with what he said.
“I never played a game sober, unfortunately,” Clark said. “It just never stopped.”
Clark’s admission was incredible to hear. He admitted to drinking half a pint to a pint of gin daily during his NBA career. To think he never played a game sober is indeed shocking. It also leads to questions of whether his teammates and coaches knew about his drinking. If so, why did they not stop him?
Clark was ultimately sentenced to eight years in prison but he only served four. He was released from prison in July 2017 and, as of this writing, has stayed out of trouble.
It’s a shame to see a player who had talent throw it away from some booze at halftime. Who knows, if Clark could’ve stayed sober, maybe his career would have lasted longer than six years.
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