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 court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player in the

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

(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. The campus is about east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the University of Nevada from 1957 to 1969. It includes th ...

, Clark was selected 13th overall by the Orlando Magic 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 To ...

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 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 league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. They play their home games a ...

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 Western Conference Pacific Division. The Kings are the oldest ...

, 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 league's Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference, Northwest Division (NBA), ...

. With the Jazz, he only played two games before being traded to the Phoenix Suns for whom he never played a game. He holds

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 league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays its home games at ...

. 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 and weapons charges, but never showed up for trial.

U.S. Marshals The United States Marshals Service (USMS) is a federal law enforcement agency in the United States. The USMS is a bureau within the U.S. Department of Justice, operating under the direction of the Attorney General, but serves as the enforce ...

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 Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol that results in significant mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognized diagnostic entity. Predomina ...

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 and the county seat of Vermilion County, Illinois. As of the 2010 census, its population was 33,027. As of 2019, the population was an estimated 30,479. History The area that is now Danville was once home to the Miami, K ...

References

External links

NBA.com Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, Keon 1975 births Living people African-American basketball players 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 People from Danville, Illinois Power forwards (basketball) Sacramento Kings players Toronto Raptors players UNLV Runnin' Rebels basketball players Utah Jazz players 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American sportspeople

Playing career

Personal life

See also

References

External links