NBA
James Bouknight Arrested & Charged with DWI
Dylan is a contributor to Basketball Insiders. He earned a bachelor's degree in Communication with a minor in Journalism from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. In his free time, Dylan enjoys watching sports and collecting sneakers.
All posts by Dylan WilliamsUpdated17 Oct 2022
The Charlotte Hornets’ turbulent offseason has gotten even more difficult to handle.
James Bouknight, the team’s first-round pick in 2021, was arrested this weekend and was given a driving while impaired charge in the Charlotte area.
The Charlotte Hornets have released the following statement:
“We are aware of the incident involving James Bouknight and are in the process of gathering additional information. We will have no further comment at this time.”
— Charlotte Hornets PR (@HornetsPR) October 17, 2022
The Hornets released a statement on Bouknight’s arrest on their Twitter account. “We are aware of the incident involving James Bouknight and we are in the process of gathering additional information,” the statement read. ” We will have no further comment at this time.”
This is not Bouknight’s first run-in with the law. In 2019, Bouknight was granted probation after a traffic accident while he was at UConn. He was charged with evading responsibility, driving without a license, interfering with police, and driving too fast for conditions after crashing another student’s car, and then fleeing from police. He was able to get the charges removed from his record upon completion of the probation program.
Bouknight, the 11th overall pick in the 2021 NBA draft, split his rookie season with Charlotte and their G-League affiliate, the Greensboro Swarm. He appeared in 31 games last season and averaged 4.6 points on 34.7% shooting.
The Charlotte Hornets’ Eventful Offseason
The most recent incident with James Bouknight is another in what has been a rough offseason for the Hornets. First was the firing of head coach James Borrego, coming off a 43-39 season and play-in appearance. They initially hired former Brooklyn Nets coach Kenny Atkinson to fill the role. However, he changed his mind and decided to remain an assistant with Golden State. As a result, they decided to hire Steve Clifford, former head coach of the Hornets and Orlando Magic.
Then there’s the Miles Bridges situation, as he’s accused of domestic violence and child abuse. As he’s facing the charges, the Charlotte Hornets let his qualifying offer expire, rendering him a free agent. This leaves Bridges’ future, NBA and beyond, very much in doubt.
The Hornets open their season on October 19th as they travel to Texas to take on the San Antonio Spurs.
