Knicks restricted free-agent guard Nate Robinson is still hanging around town, waiting to see if the team will offer him a contract, even though it has shown considerable resistance to the notion. (Some have called this “loyalty”; others have called it “having no other options.”) Last night, he didn’t do himself any favors.
The diminutive slam-dunk champ and fan favorite was driving around the Bronx when a policeman pulled him over for not wearing a seat belt. Robinson, amusingly, has had an impressive number of minor vehicular issues in the past, as the Post has chronicled: By their count, he scored seven different violations in a three-year span, and because he did not manage to settle them all in a timely fashion, his license was suspended on five different occasions, including in June. So what did he do when he was stopped last night? He immediately began to complain — on Twitter. While he still sat in the car, Robinson tweeted: “Cops pulled me over cuz my windows were 2 dark (but my windows were down) lol how funny is that,” and, “I am still pulled over and its been 35 min they have me sit in my truck like i dnt have s#*+2 do lol.”
Why was it taking so long? Because that seat-belt violation quickly turned into a driving-with-a-suspended-license violation. Which led to Robinson being arrested.
He was booked at the 52nd Precinct and released. Once he made it back home, the previous tweets were deleted and replaced with some suddenly very PR-friendly, well-conjugated contrition:
“To All My Tweeps: I was irresponsible earlier when I tweeted about being pulled over.”
“I apologize to the Knicks, my family and fans.”
“I also want to thank the NYPD especially the arresting officer. He was fair and helped process me quickly.”
And then Robinson tweeted this morning that a reporter from the Post was waiting outside his house when he woke up. That’ll happen.
The Knicks and Robinson are still at an impasse over his contract for next season, but it’s clear that he wants to return more than they desire him back. This probably won’t help his case. Perhaps Robinson should look into public transit.
