Ty Lawson, former Denver Nuggets’ point guard, was sentenced Tuesday to one year of probation in connection with a 2015 drunken driving case.

During the hearing in Denver County Court, the prosecutor said Lawson, 28, never was punished for previous cases and needed jail time to learn a lesson.

Lawson’s attorney said the government wanted jail time because of Lawson’s celebrity status and suggested he should receive the normal punishment for a first time driving under the influence offense, probation.

“You have a terrible history,” Judge Olympia Z. Fay told Lawson as she sentenced him. “You are going down a bad path.”

Lawson, then a member of the Nuggets and now with the Pacers, was arrested for driving under the influence in the 3400 block of Park Avenue West on Jan. 23, 2015.

In July, 2015, he was again arrested on suspicion of drunken driving while in Los Angeles.

Prosecutor Chris Curtis argued that two earlier drinking and driving arrests, coupled with the LA bust, for which Lawson has yet to be sentenced, should be counted when considering a penalty.

In addition, he pleaded guilty to drinking and driving underage in North Carolina, where he played for the University of North Carolina. “That conviction doesn’t count in Colorado,” because at 20, he was underage, Curtis said.

He received a deferred judgment for a second DUI, which also doesn’t count as a prior offense in Colorado, Curtis said.

“What does it take to get Ty Lawson to stop doing this?” Curtis said. “What happens when the next DUI ends with a car crash? People will ask, ‘why didn’t he have any consequences,'” Curtis said.

The answer to that question is Lawson’s celebrity, he added.

Curtis asked for a 45-day jail sentence, adding that with good behavior, Lawson would be out in a month.

Harvey Steinberg, Lawson’s lawyer, said celebrity was the reason that Curtis wanted the judge to give his client a sentence more harsh than the probation received for most first offense DUIs.

“This is a first offense, he hasn’t been convicted in California,” Steinberg said.

He said Lawson lost his job with the Nuggets, and then with the Houston Rockets, to whom he was traded, because of the recent DUI arrests.

Both the Rockets and the Nuggets were unwilling to take a chance on him, Steinberg said.

He now plays with the Indiana Pacers, and is under constant scrutiny, Steinberg said.

Fay agreed with Steinberg that Lawson was a first offender and should receive probation.

She also ordered him to stay away from alcohol and pot, complete 48 hours of community service, and 52 hours of therapy, and undergo sobriety checks. He must also pay court costs of $1,571.

Through Steinberg, Lawson declined to comment following the hearing.

Tom McGhee: 303-954-1671, tmcghee@denverpost.com or @dpmcghee