Former Los Angeles Clippers guard Courtney Fortson has been accused of involvement in a string of burglaries, according to recent reports.
According to KNWA-TV, a television station in Arkansas, Fortson was detained after an incident in which it is alleged that he tried to leave a grocery store with considerably more items than he had paid for. KNWA further reports that after their own investigation, the store believes that Fortson had done this on six other occasions over the previous month, yielding more than $1,000 of items.
Fortson was freed on a $10,000, bond and is set to appear in court in December.
Fortson’s NBA Career
Fortson, 37, played briefly in the NBA after a standout college career at Arkansas. Across two seasons with the Razorbacks from 2008 to 2010, he averaged 16.0 points, 5.9 assists, and 5.4 rebounds per game, establishing himself as one of the more dynamic undersized guards in the SEC.
Despite those numbers, he went undrafted in 2010 due to concerns about his size (listed as 5’11 during his playing career) and efficiency (4.7 turnovers per game and 39.7% shooting across those two years). Nonetheless, Fortson eventually found his way to the NBA during the leagueâs 2011 lockout-shortened season.
Fortson first joined the Clippers in December 2011, appearing in four games and averaging 4.3 points, 2.0 rebounds and 1.3 assists in just over 11 minutes per contest. He later signed for two short stints with the Houston Rockets that same season, adding six more appearances. Across his ten-game NBA career, Fortson totalled 35 points, 10 assists and 15 rebounds, while shooting 34.4% from the field.
After leaving the NBA, Fortsonâs career flourished overseas, particularly in China. But he also travelled the world, also had stops in Turkey, Poland, Romania, France, Finland, Russia, Venezuela and the G League, playing in Lebanon as recently as last season.
Global Traveller
As above, in Chinaâs CBA, Fortson became one of the most productive import guards of the mid-2010s. Playing for teams such as the Zhejiang Lions and the Sichuan Blue Whales, he regularly averaged over 25 points per game (in a league where such things are possible) while serving as both a dynamic scorer and facilitator. Few were as quick with the ball in their hands as a prime Courtney Fortson, nor as fearless.
In China, Fortsonâs combination of quickness and high-volume scoring made him a fan favorite, and too much for domestic guards to contain. During the 2017-18 season with Zhejiang, he averaged 30.5 points, 11.0 assists, 7.6 rebounds and 2.6 steals per game, production that earned him a spot on the All-CBA First Team.
Despite that success, however, Fortson never made it back to the NBA. For all but the most hardcore of fans, Fortsonâs name was a footnote in Clippers and Rockets box scores from 2012s. For those who followed international basketball, though, Fortson was a box score phenom, a high-usage guard who filled stat sheets for nearly a decade abroad.
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