American basketball player (born 1975)
Arian Keon Clark (born April 16, 1975) is an American former basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA).
Playing career
After a collegiate career at two different junior colleges and UNLV, Clark was selected 13th overall by the Orlando Magic in the 1998 NBA draft but was traded to the Denver Nuggets. 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, Sacramento Kings, and Utah Jazz. With the Jazz, he only played two games before being traded to the Phoenix Suns for whom he never played a game.
He holds Toronto Raptors franchise record for most blocks in one game with 12, set on 23 March 2001 in a game against the Atlanta Hawks.[1]
In 2002, Clark posted averages of 11.3 points and 1.51 blocks 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 and weapons charges, but never showed up for trial. U.S. Marshals found him boarding a bus in Houston, Texas 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 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.[2]
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.[3]
See also
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