Ty Lawson has been in trouble with the law a lot since he came into the public eye in 2006 and basically all of the incidents have been alcohol related. Lawson was arrested twice just this year for DUI's and after the second one he was court ordered to spend 30 days in rehab where he is currently residing. Lawson's stay in the rehab is almost done but there are still a lot of things that need to be worked out before his status for the Houston Rockets season opener is known, according to Calvin Watkins of ESPN.
After Lawson's most recent arrest for DUI he was traded from the Denver Nuggets to the Rockets which will be the team he plays for when he figures out all of the legal things. Lawson has reportedly been arrested three times for DUI and was stopped back in 2008 at North Carolina for underage drinking. At one point his drinking got so bad that Nuggets president Josh Kroenke said he could smell alcohol on Lawson's breath during practices. Besides the 30-day stint in rehab the judge also ordered Lawson to wear an alcohol-monitoring device when he gets out of rehab.
By all accounts Lawson is a great guy off the court he just has an addiction and finally is taking the proper steps to combat that addiction. Lawson's new team, the Rockets, seem to have his back through all that is going on.
"He's had some very serious incidents in his past and in his recent past. We feel like he's part of the Rockets family now and through our conversations with him we feel confident he's getting the help he needs and he's taken that step to say this is something he needs to do is improve on those areas," said Rockets general manager Daryl Morey.
Lawson has decided that after he leaves rehab he won't need a chaperon which past professional athletes including Josh Hamilton, Johnny Manziel and Dez Bryant did use after their respective issues. Lawson's availability at the beginning of the season is in question due to all that is going on with him but he will be very motivated to perform in his first season with the Rockets.
The final year of Lawson's contract is 2016-17 and he is expected to earn $13.2 million that season. Initially that $13.2 million was guaranteed but Lawson decided to make it non-guaranteed so that he can prove he deserves the money. Last season with the Nuggets Lawson averaged 15.2 points per game and was third in the NBA with 9.6 assists per game so if and when he gets on the court he will be a huge help to the Rockets.
