Reaching new Hites

Jul/19/07 12:45 PM Filed in: Robert Hite
Attentive basketball fans might have noticed an unusual name gracing a roster in the Orlando NBA summer league this past week. No, it wasn’t the return of Celtics’ draft bust Kedrick Brown (may Allah curse his name). The name in question was Robert Hite, formerly of the Miami Heat and patron saint of Faulty Sports Arrests.

Hite, who was then on the Nets’ summer roster and might yet make someone’s team, was arrested earlier this year for a DUI while a member of the Miami squad, and was promptly kicked off the team by Pat Riley, despite playing well in a few regular-season games. But tests later showed that Hite was not in fact intoxicated, that his blood alcohol was well within the legal limit, and that he was unfairly held by police. Unfortunately, this little-known player missed a Heat game against the Mavericks because of the arrest, and his subsequent dismissal forced him to spend the rest of the year with Sioux City, of the NBDL.

Hite had an interesting quote about his fate when he resurfaced as a Net in Orlando. “No hard feelings at all,” he said. “It’s the business of the NBA.”
Getting kicked off the team for a DUI is the business of the NBA? Maybe that is true, if you only averaged 4.3 points and 1.3 rebounds per game.

(thephoenix.com)