Sacramento Kings point guard Darren Collison, a former UCLA teammate of Russell Westbrook and Kevin Love, was arrested on domestic violence charges on May 30th. The Placer County Sheriff Department took Collison, who is 29 years old and just completed the second year of a three year deal with the Sacramento Kings, into custody. He was booked in the Placer County Jail. The charge(s) against him were one count of inflicting corporal injury to a spouse or cohabitant, as well as two misdemeanor bench warrants of driving on a suspended license.

The responding deputies were investigating an assault claim from a woman at one o’clock in the afternoon. She said she was being assaulted and when they arrived they noticed injuries. Because she was a domestic violence victim, her identity was immediately concealed.

Collison pled guilty to one misdemeanor count of domestic violence. He will perform community service and therefore have his 20-day jail sentence commuted by way of the alternative sentencing program. According to the statement from the Placer County district attorney’s office, Collison will be on “informal” probation for three years. Collison will have to complete 52 weeks of a batters program. He also has a protective order allowing him only peaceful contact with the victim. The penalties, according to the district attorney’s office, fit the nature of the crime, the injuries to the victim and Collison’s immediate accountability and remorse.

Collison released this statement:

“Words cannot describe the feelings and regrets that I have been experiencing the last few months. My family and I found ourselves in such an unfamiliar situation and it has been a difficult few months. This is far from who I am as a person and not something I am proud of. I take full responsibility for my actions. I have apologized to my beautiful wife that I have known and loved since high school. I am appreciative and thankful for the love and understanding from my friends, family and supporters. Now it’s time to put this behind us and move forward.”

His employer, the Sacramento Kings, also released a statement.

We are disappointed by Darren’s behavior, and today he accepted full responsibility for his actions. He is committed to using this incident to help raise awareness through education of this critical issue in the community.

The NBA has disciplined Collison. He will miss 8 games of the NBA regular season. He still can play in the preseason and he is not barred from practice. Last week, Collison spoke in depth.

It’s been an unfortunate summer, difficult offseason, you know what I mean, but as a man you’ve got to take responsibility.

Darren Collison signed a free agent deal with the Sacramento Kings during the summer of 2014. The deal was worth $16 million dollars. His first year with Sacramento, he averaged 16.1 points and 5.6 assists, shooting 37.3% from three. This past season, he averaged 14.0 points, 4.3 assists and 40.1% from three. He has one year left on his deal, worth $5.2 million (2016-17).

photo via llannaba