Former NBA star Steve Francis was reportedly arrested in Burbank, California on Sunday night for public intoxication, according to reports. Francis, who just recently opened up about his alcohol abuse in an essay for The Player's Tribune, was reportedly taken to jail and given a citation, then released around 7 a.m. local time Monday morning.
According to ESPN, Burbank police said that they responded to a report of an unruly patron in a hotel bar on Sunday night and after observing Francis, they arrested him for public intoxication, saying they "determined he was under the influence to an extent that he posed a risk to his own safety and the safety of others. "
In his essay for The Player's Tribune, titled "I Got A Story To Tell," Francis discussed his post-NBA career, his numerous run-ins with the law, and his battle with alcohol.
"The hardest part was reading some bullshit on the Internet saying that I was on crack," Francis wrote. "When I thought about my grandmother reading that, or my kids reading that ... that broke my heart. Listen, I sold crack when I was growing up. I'll own up to that. But never in my life did I ever do crack. "What happened to Steve Francis? I was drinking heavily, is what happened. And that can be just as bad. In the span of a few years I lost basketball, I lost my whole identity, and I lost my stepfather, who committed suicide."
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