SLAM ‘DRUNK’: Cell phone pictures show Kidd partying it up before his alleged drunken-driving crash. (
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This isn’t the kind of driving the Knicks had in mind.
An allegedly impaired Jason Kidd slammed his car into a light pole, leading to his arrest in the Hamptons this morning, police said.
Kidd, recently signed by the Knicks as an apparent replacement for popular point guard Jeremy Lin, was treated for minor injuries from the Cobb Road smash up, police said. He was then hauled to Southampton Justice Court where the NBA great was charged with DWI, police said.
The veteran hoopster was the only person inside his 2010 Cadillac Escalade when he crashed at 1:56 a.m., according to law enforcement.
Kidd, 39, was treated at Southampton Hospital, processed at the Southampton police station and then released from court on his own recognizance, officials said.
Hours before the incident, Kidd was spotted partying at an East Hampton charity function. He was photographed with model wife Porschia Coleman and cross-town Nets rival Joe Johnson at Ne-Yo’s Compound Foundation event “Fostering A Legacy.”
After the charity event, Kidd and his wife headed to nearby club SL East, where the NBA star was seen acting drunk, sources said.
Photos quickly made the rounds on the Internet today apparently showing Kidd partying it up before the crash.
Kidd, who recently purchased a $6 million home in Water Mill that’s just minutes way from the crash scene, signed a $9.5 million deal with the Knicks this past Thursday.
This is not Kidd’s first brush with the law. He was arrested and eventually pleaded guilty to a domestic violence charge in January, 2001 when he was married to his former wife, Joumana.
As part of his plea agreement, Kidd was ordered to attend six months of anger management classes and later he claimed to have sworn off alcohol.
The couple went through a bitter divorce in 2007 when Kidd cited “extreme cruelty” during their relationship. Joumana Kidd filed a counterclaim for divorce, alleging that the NBA star had broken “her rib and damaged her hearing by smashing her head into the console of a car.”
Knicks officials declined to comment.
Additional reporting by Don Kaplan and David K. Li