Hornets guard James Bouknight, the No. 11 overall pick of last year’s draft, was arrested and charged early Sunday morning for driving while impaired, per Kallie Cox of The Charlotte Observer. The Hornets acknowledged Bouknight’s arrest (via Twitter), but didn’t have much to say on the matter.
“We are aware of the incident involving James Bouknight and are in the process of gathering additional information,” the team said in a statement. “We will have no further comment at this time.”
This is not the first vehicular incident Bouknight has been involved in, Cox writes. Last November, he was cited for speeding and reckless driving (107 mph in a 65 mph zone), and is slated to appear in court later this month.
Bouknight was also cited in February for reckless driving, and last Wednesday, he was once again ticketed for speeding and reckless driving (92 mph in a 50 mph zone). According to Cox, there was another case involving Bouknight, but the charges were dropped.
The 22-year-old was also arrested for fleeing a car accident three years ago while at UConn and reportedly smelled of alcohol at the time, per a report from The Associated Press (via ESPN).
As Cox notes, Bouknight is the latest Hornets player to be arrested in 2022, but unfortunately not the first.
Former Hornet Montrezl Harrell was arrested for a felony marijuana trafficking charge in May, but that was later reduced to a misdemeanor possession charge which will be removed from his record if he remains in good legal standing for the next 10 months. Harrell signed with the Sixers as a free agent less than a week after his charge was reduced.
In addition to Bouknight and Harrell, restricted free agent Miles Bridges is facing three felony domestic violence charges for an incident in Los Angeles at the end of June. He’s scheduled to appear in court today for a preliminary hearing, which has been postponed several times.
jesus christ that’s like the 100th hornets player arrested
James Booked Night
I credit you with the idea but I’d tweak it to James “Booked for the Night” Bouknight. I’m not positively sure how his name is pronounced, and maybe I never will, given he shoot’s himself in the foot quarterly
James Booked at Night.
There it is
Gary with the appropo assist
I almost had it. Botched the layup. Turned it over…
It’s okay I got the board and put it back up. We’re all on the same team.
The leagues need stiffer penalties in place for reckless behavior like this. If players knew that it would cost them, you’d hope it would deter it. Obviously, the status quo isn’t working well enough.
The players certainly don’t tweet about this kind of behavior being bad for the league
And you would think that he doesn’t get caught EVERY time he’s speeding… this guy is gonna hurt himself, somebody else, or both.
Sounds like practice time, game night, and road games are the only times Charlotte streets are safe from Bouknight.
It’s beginning to look like the Charlotte Dragnets. Just the facts ma’am.
Hornets looking more and more like the updated Jail-Blazers
What an idiot. Any professional athlete (much less anyone in general in the age of ride share) who gets busted for dwi/dui is just dumb as rocks. Not only can you afford any kind of rideshare service, but as far as I know all teams employ security people you can call in this exact instance. It’s literally what they are there for.
The Charlotte Hornets have had the worst off season of any team. Miles Bridges and the domestic charges smh. Now this and that and LaMelo Ball hurt. I think the Charlotte Hornets are going to be the worst team in the East
They had a terrible draft as well!
I’m guessing the nba has a system setup like the Nfl does where every player has a free service they can call 24/7 for a free ride
The excitement I get from watching elite basketball being played is the same thing the guys in here get when they see a story like this. Taurean Prince, Emoni Bates, James Bouknight it don’t matter, they’re drooling to see 1 of em take a fall
And you’re here to deflect from the players bad behavior?
I think it’s far to say that Bouknight is far more motivated in securing felony DUI charges than he is a regular rotation spot in the Hornets lineup.
When keeping it real goes wrong.
Surprised hes even able to drove at those speeds with the injuries hes had since being drafted. Did t he hurt his wrist a couple of months ago?
They need him to be a scorer/spacer off the bench for them this year. Hopefully this doesmt impact that, but it already was a question mark
3 driving-related incidents within 3 years. Dude will be out of the league soon.
A few things:
1. As a UCONN fan, I though he was horribly overrated as a college player.
2. The Hornets don’t need anymore dumb driving accidents after Bobby Phils’ passing.
3. Someone download the Uber app for Bouk.
Kevin O’Connor and others said this guy was gonna be a very good