Even after his retirement, Ty Lawson‘s struggles with alcohol-related legal issues have continued. After seeing his NBA career periodically overshadowed by off-court incidents, the 38-year-old former Denver Nuggets star once again found himself in legal trouble last week after being charged with shoplifting.

According to a Fox 31 report, the incident occurred on July 16 in Castle Rock, Colorado. A liquor store owner in the area called the police after reporting that a man had stolen a $34 bottle of Tito’s vodka. The man, later identified as Lawson, allegedly appeared intoxicated and was stumbling, according to the report.

Lawson had taken the bottle outside the shop, where the store owner reported seeing him take a drink from it before he walked to nearby restaurant Scileppi’s. He set the bottle down by the fire pit before moving to the bar, where he sat with it until officers arrived and arrested him. Lawson was then taken to the Douglas County Jail.

Subsequently, he faced a misdemeanor shoplifting charge involving property valued at less than $300. During the incident, Lawson’s friend, who was at the restaurant, was also detained after he was found holding the bottle of alcohol. However, officers later released him after determining there was no evidence linking him to the alleged theft.

According to the New York Post, the former Nuggets guard also resisted arrest, repeatedly shouting at officers to stop and directing derogatory remarks toward them. The arresting officer noted that Lawson smelled “of an unknown alcoholic substance.” The arrest affidavit further states that Lawson kicked the glass wall of his holding cell, repeatedly yelled “stop,” and allegedly spit on the floor before eventually calming down.

The same affidavit noted that Lawson later apologized for his behavior. However, more than a week after the incident, Lawson has not issued a public statement regarding the arrest. And notably, this incident is far from the first alcohol-related legal issue of his career.

Former Denver Nuggets PG Ty Lawson Isn’t New to Alcohol-Related Charges

Lawson was once considered one of the NBA’s most promising young point guards. He was a Sixth Man of the Year candidate in his second season, averaging 11.7 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 4.7 assists off Denver’s bench, and he won an NCAA championship in 2009 and averaged double figures in scoring in five of his six seasons with the Nuggets. He even received MVP votes during Denver’s 57-win campaign in 2012-13, the same season he posted a career-best 17.6 points and 8.8 assists. But his issues with alcohol have been recurring and have landed him in legal trouble time and again.

Lawson’s history of alcohol-related legal issues dates back to 2008. He pleaded guilty to driving after consuming alcohol while underage in North Carolina, where he was also initially cited for driving with a suspended license and a noise violation. The remaining charges were later dropped. Fast forward seven years, and Lawson’s career trajectory changed yet again.

The Nuggets guard was charged with two DUI offenses within six months in 2015. The first arrest came in Colorado, where he was reportedly driving nearly twice the posted speed limit, and where he told officers he had previously been arrested for DUI in Missouri, an incident that has never been publicly documented in detail, while the second occurred in Los Angeles on suspicion of driving under the influence.

According to an ESPN report published that year, Lawson also entered residential treatment at Cliffside Malibu for about a month as part of his efforts to address his alcohol issues. The NBA suspended him twice over the two cases, two games initially, then three more after a later guilty plea.

These repeated incidents coincided with a significant turning point in Lawson’s NBA career. Shortly after the DUI arrests, Denver traded him to the Houston Rockets. While the Nuggets never officially cited the arrests as the reason for the move, the incidents were widely viewed as a major factor behind the decision because of his ongoing off-court issues.

After Ty Lawson left the Denver Nuggets, he never rediscovered the form that had made him one of the league’s better point guards. He spent stints with the Houston Rockets, Indiana Pacers, Sacramento Kings, and Washington Wizards before continuing his career overseas in China, Greece, Tunisia, and Venezuela, but never reached the same level of success he enjoyed in Denver.

His off-court troubles followed him abroad, too; he was banned for life by the Chinese Basketball Association in 2020 over a derogatory social media post. Eventually, the career of the former 18th overall pick gradually faded from the NBA spotlight.