Former Houston Rockets superstar Ralph Sampson put behind bars over child support issues: NBA Update
Houston Rockets legend and four-time NBA All-Star Ralph Sampson was arrested in Georgia on Tuesday evening. The ex-NBA star was charged on account of multiple traffic violations and failure to meet the obligations of child support.
He has however been released after signing a bond.
The 51-year-old Ralph was pulled over by the police officer in the Peachtree Corners area when the officer discovered in a license tag check that Sampson’s driving licence was suspended. According to the police reports, the license
was dangled due to failure of meeting child support responsibilities. The report also revealed that the Houston Rockets’ centre had an open arrest warrant from Duluth as he did not show up in court on an auto insurance violation in 2008.
The University of Virginia All-Time great Ralph Sampson spent several hours behind the bars before he submitted a bond to get out of jail. After getting released, Sampson denied the charges that hand cuffed him and stated that
the police got the accusation wrong.
"My license was not suspended for failure to meet child support obligations of any kind. This issue had nothing to do with child support.” Ralph said.
Sampson made the clarification that the suspended license was due to non-payment of reinstatement fee which is$ 35, rather incapability of meeting the obligations for child support.
Answering to a question regarding the accuracy of the police report, the spokesperson of the Gwinnett County Police Jake Smith said that the information was pulled out from the National Crime Information Centre in Georgia by the
arresting officer. Now the question remains that whether it was a case of officer error or Ralph Sampson lied on the accusation.
The 7 ft 4 in centre was drafted by the Houston Rockets during the 1983 NBA Draft with the first overall pick.
Coming into the professional league, Ralph Sampson didn’t disappoint his team and fans as he showcased the extent of his abilities in the first year with the Rockets. Ralph averaged 21.0 points and 11.1 rebounds per game in the
first season and clinched NBA Rookie of the year award.
With the gigantic physique and incredible agility, Sampson was expected to score like Wilt Chamberlin and gather NBA titles like Bill Russell. However, after three high-flying seasons with Houston Rockets, injuries started to take
their toll and Ralph had a substantial decrease in his performance. After playing nine NBA seasons with four different teams in which he scored 7039 points and 4011 rebounds, Sampson announced his retirement.