Arian Keon Clark (born April 16, 1975) is an American former

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

(NBA).

Playing career

After a collegiate career at two different junior colleges and

UNLV The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a public land-grant research university in Paradise, Nevada, United States. The campus is about east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the University of Nevada from 1957 to 1969. ...

, Clark was selected 13th overall by the

Orlando Magic The Orlando Magic are an American professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. The Magic compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NB ...

in the

1998 NBA draft The 1998 NBA draft took place on June 24, 1998, at General Motors Place in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. This draft helped turn around four struggling franchises: the Dallas Mavericks, the Sacramento Kings, the Boston Celtics, and the Tor ...

but was traded to the

Denver Nuggets The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division (NBA), Northwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA), W ...

. He began his professional career with Denver where he enjoyed a stable first three years in the NBA, improving steadily. Clark would go on to play for the

Toronto Raptors The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), E ...

Sacramento Kings The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Confere ...

, and

Utah Jazz The Utah Jazz are an American professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City. The Jazz compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference. Since the 1991–92 season, the ...

. With the Jazz, he only played two games before being traded to the

Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Suns compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA), We ...

for whom he never played a game. He holds the

franchise record for most blocks in one game with 12, set on 23 March 2001 in a game against the

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Easte ...

. In 2002, Clark posted averages of 11.3 points and 1.51

block Block or blocked may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Block programming, the result of a programming strategy in broadcasting * W242BX, a radio station licensed to Greenville, South Carolina, United States known as ''96.3 ...

s per game, while also finishing ninth in the NBA in total personal fouls. He holds career averages of 8.2 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.62 blocks per game.

Personal life

Clark has been plagued by personal problems since leaving the NBA. In 2006, he was due to stand trial in Illinois on

marijuana Cannabis (), commonly known as marijuana (), weed, pot, and ganja, List of slang names for cannabis, among other names, is a non-chemically uniform psychoactive drug from the ''Cannabis'' plant. Native to Central or South Asia, cannabis has ...

and weapons charges, but never showed up for trial. U.S. Marshals found him boarding a bus in

Houston, Texas Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

and brought him back to Danville for trial. He was sentenced to two and a half years in prison, but the sentence was thrown out because he did not have a lawyer at the time of sentencing. At a hearing, Clark admitted that he was a recovering

alcoholic Alcoholism is the continued drinking of alcohol despite it causing problems. Some definitions require evidence of dependence and withdrawal. Problematic use of alcohol has been mentioned in the earliest historical records. The World Hea ...

who had been drinking for most of the time since high school. He added that he "never played a game sober" during his NBA career, and usually drank during halftime. By his estimate, he drank half a pint to a pint of gin daily during his professional career. On December 5, 2013, Clark was sentenced to eight years in prison for weapons charges but only served four. He was released from prison in July 2017, and currently lives in his hometown of

Danville, Illinois Danville is a city in Vermilion County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. The populations was 29,204 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Danville micropolitan area. History The area that is now Danville was on ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, Keon 1975 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Canada American men's basketball players American sportspeople convicted of crimes Basketball players from Illinois Centers (basketball) Denver Nuggets players Utah Tech Trailblazers men's basketball players Junior college men's basketball players in the United States Orlando Magic draft picks Sportspeople from Danville, Illinois Power forwards Sacramento Kings players Toronto Raptors players UNLV Runnin' Rebels basketball players Utah Jazz players 21st-century African-American sportsmen 21st-century American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen

Playing career

Personal life

See also

References

External links