Grizzlies forward Brandon Clarke was arrested Wednesday afternoon in Cross County, Arkansas, on charges of trafficking a controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance, fleeing in a vehicle exceeding the speed limit and improper passing, Lucas Finton and Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal write in a subscriber-only story.
The sheriff’s department refused to comment on the arrest, with Chief Deputy Larry Jones emailing a statement to the authors that read, “At this time, there is no additional information that can be released.”
Head coach Tuomas Iisalo also offered little insight during a session with reporters before tonight’s home game against New York, according to Finton and Cole. “I’m aware of the report but don’t have any comments,” Iisalo said.
Clarke was only available for two games this season, as he missed the start of the campaign while recovering from a procedure on his right knee and then quickly suffered a right calf strain. After recent medical imaging, he was declared out for the season last week.
Injuries have derailed a promising career for the 29-year-old Clarke, who finished fourth in the Rookie of the Year race in 2020 and was a reliable big man off the bench for the successful Grizzlies teams earlier this decade. He was limited to six games during the 2023/24 season, and then rebounded for 64 a year ago before hurting his knee.
Clarke is earning $12.5MM this season and has the same amount fully guaranteed for next year before becoming a free agent in the summer of 2027.
Is weed a controlled substance in ARK?
Alcohol is legal, but you’re not allowed to drive on it.
I don’t see DUI in the charges listed, just possession of and trafficking a controlled substance. If he was high and driving that would also be a DUI charge.
Yes, unless you have a medical card with a documented qualifying condition.
Ivey really be losing his mind now.
He’s a perfect fit for Memphis
Why Memphis keeps giving Clarke a chance is inexplicable.
He has a guaranteed contract. Its pretty explicable.
How very inclusive of Memphis to keep him.
Can’t fix stupid
Odds are that he just wasted millions of dollars because he didn’t want to pay one of his friends $5,000 to move $800 worth of weed 3 hours across the state lines.
Then again you can pretty much do whatever you want in the NBA accept publicly hold beliefs that the league office does not share while simultaneously being forced to speak to the media every 4 days by that same league office.
Agree or disagree on the Ivey thing it’s not great to be a league that focuses on the voices of players until the exact moment there is a voice you don’t like.
To be clear, the league has taken zero action against Ivey. His team did. And let’s be real, mainly because his non existent production isn’t worth a headache. He’s a guy who couldn’t play because of injury, doesn’t really have a concrete return timeline, and Chicago has zero invested in him as an expiring contract.
Let’s not turn this into, oh the league is persecuting Jaden Ivey
If Ivey had Clarke’s contract, he’d still be there.
Cross county is the next county over from Shelby county going west.. not hours away. My assumption is he has a nice car in someone elses name (mom? Wife? Girlfriend? ), cop was sussed out over a man driving a nice car mot under his name, figured to light em up. Clarke had a grip of personal bud that the cop said was trafficking. Tennessee and Arkansas dont play with the weed game but he’ll end up on probation with all that $$$