DeShawn Stevenson was arrested for public intoxication Tuesday night, just two days after helping the Dallas Mavericks win the 2011 NBA Championship over the Miami Heat.
Irving police got a call around 10:30 p.m. about a drunk man walking through the Grand Venetian apartment complex in Las Colinas. When officers arrived, they found DeShawn Stevenson. He doesn’t live at the complex, police say he didn’t know where he was, and he listed a Florida address when he was booked.
Officers gave him a field sobriety test, and he failed. Police arrested him without incident based on the test, his own statements and what officers saw. “They felt he was a danger to himself and others,” Irving police spokesman John Argumaniz said. He added that Stevenson was intoxicated to the point where officers weren’t comfortable letting him walk away.
Stevenson posted a $475 bond and was released around 5:30 a.m. Wednesday. Public intoxication is a Class C misdemeanor in Texas, punishable by a fine of up to $500 with no jail time. The Mavericks declined to comment.
This one stings, because Stevenson was a big part of why Dallas was celebrating in the first place. He started every playoff game until the last three games of the Finals. Even coming off the bench, he brought defense and outside shooting, and Dallas won all three. In the title clinching Game 6, he hit three 3 pointers during a key stretch in the first half. He also spent the whole series talking trash about LeBron James, including saying LeBron “checked out” late in Game 4.
Mavs coach Rick Carlisle credited Stevenson’s toughness and grit as a big part of the team’s identity the same day as the arrest.
C’mon DeShawn, we have to do better. Save some of that celebrating for the Mavericks parade on Thursday.
