You Won't Be Seeing Isaiah Rider for a While

Unless you happen to be an inmate at the Marin County Jail, that is. J.R. is going away for about seven months. The sentence came down today on several charges, with Rider having pled guilty to felony possession of cocaine, battery and evading a police officer.

We could go over all the things Rider's been arrested for since his playing career ended, but by the time we were finished, Rider's 7-month stretch in county would be over. They're all the sorts of things you see people being arrested for on Cops. None of it is fun or amusing ... they're all just more tragic steps in the saga of the King of Wasted Talent.

Speaking to the court prior to sentencing, Rider said he had fallen into a tailspin in the past year and gotten into trouble here and in Alameda County, where he lives.

"I got myself into this," Rider said, adding that he has been deeply affected by the grave condition of his mother. "I want to get out (of jail) - have a funeral for her."

Rider's mother is in a coma because of a heart condition, and the family has been told by doctors that she is brain dead.

Ugh. That just makes a guy feel ill. I hope that there's some kind of a happy ending in here for him.

It's hard to even fathom how hard the guy fell ... it's sort of hard to pick out a contemporary comparison, because no one combines the on-court talent with the combustibility that Rider brought. But comparing them on basketball ability alone, imagine if, for example ... ten years from now, Randy Foye hasn't played competitive basketball in years, has been arrested half a dozen times, and is now going to jail (and I really hope I didn't just jinx Randy Foye). How sad would that be?