Following his arrest for reportedly repeatedly hitting his 10-year-old son for dropping a book, former Chicago Bulls player Ben Gordon was given a bond, according to court records.
An American Airlines employee saw the former NBA player striking the boy and yelling at him on Monday night and reported the incident to the authorities.
Gordon, 39, was arraigned Tuesday night in Queens Criminal Court but was unable to quickly post bail. He slept the night in Rikers Island; however, it is anticipated that he will make bond and be freed early on Wednesday.
He was accused with harming the welfare of a child, criminal contempt in the first and second degrees, two counts of assault in the second and third degrees, two charges of assault in the second and third degrees, attempted assault in the third degree, and resisting arrest.
Ashley Banks, his ex-girlfriend, disputed that he smacked his kid and accused a “nosy Karen” of making the security call when he had just disciplined the boy.
Banks told DailyMail.com that the athlete was doing push-ups with 10-year-old Elijah when security officers stormed in and detained him. Banks dated the former Chicago Bulls player till 2020.
Banks, who has a son named Lux with Gordon, stated to DailyMail.com: “Someone was being nosy.” It was the cashier. It was simply Karen being Karen. He became agitated since he was with his kid and they had security.
“The father of my son would never touch his kids.” For his three sons, he pumps life into them. Another black guy had been set off by Karen at the airport. She needs to be let go. Simply put, he was furious.
His kid is with his aunt and wasn’t wounded or bruised. He was becoming agitated when the woman started talking to them and phoned security. The kid is OK.
The troublesome athlete, who played for the Chicago Bulls from 2004 to 2009 before switching to the Detroit Pistons, has had run-ins with the police previously.
As a rookie with the Bulls in 2005, Gordon shared the court with Luol Deng and earned the Sixth Man Award.
He spent two seasons with the Charlotte Bobcats before concluding his playing career in 2015 with the Orlando Magic.
Soon after, Gordon started having problems, and he has been candid about his battles with his mental health.
He penned the following moving article on The Player’s Tribune in 2020: “There was a moment when I contemplated suicide every single day for around six weeks.
I was living in a brownstone up in Harlem at the time, immediately after my last season in the league.
“I had very much lost everything at once—my family, my identity, and my work.” I had bipolar disorder. I didn’t eat. I wasn’t dozing off.
And when I say I wasn’t sleeping, I really mean I wasn’t sleeping at all. Every night, I’d wake up at the same time, like clockwork. And that’s when the demons would come out.’
In 2017, Gordon was detained more than once, first for allegedly using a fake license to drive in New York and later for reportedly assaulting the management of an apartment building in Los Angeles.
Gordon reportedly drew a knife on the guy and stole the cash he claimed to be his security deposit; as a consequence, the court ordered him to get counseling.
He received a mental examination mandate in late October as a result of an altercation with a lady in the Mount Vernon, New York, shop he owns.
Gordon was discovered confined in the store’s restroom after police were called by the lady.
He became violent during their disagreement, throwing and breaking objects before shutting her inside the business, the lady said to the police.
The “Of Our Own” shop serves as a healing and rehabilitation facility for athletes.
In his 2020 essay, Gordon said, “It became so terrible that they had me taken to a mental institution, and the trouble was that I didn’t even comprehend why it was happening.”
“Like in the movies,” someone said. I’m in a white room with nurses and physicians tying me to a bed. They are taking off the bottoms of my jeans and inserting needles in my arms while wearing scrubs and gloves.
It was frightening,
He argued that others should get treatment and claimed that the therapy had already benefited.
Regarding Gordon’s arrest, the Port Authority police department has not issued a statement.