Vin Baker, who knows a thing or two about problems with alcohol abuse and derailed careers, has
some advice for Lawson:
After alcohol use ruined his own NBA career, four-time All-Star Vin Baker would like to talk to troubled Denver Nuggets guard Ty Lawson, whose playing days are now in jeopardy after yet another DUI arrest.
"I wish I could reach out to him," Baker told Yahoo Sports. "I would just give him encouragement no matter where he is at with it. It's a fight, it's real and it's not to be taken lightly. The unfortunate thing sometimes is you have to take a step back from what you've been doing your whole life to deal with something that is life-threatening.
"It's like, 'I got to get back to play.' You got to get right first."
"My advice to Ty Lawson is to make his life his No. 1 priority," Baker told Yahoo Sports. "I don't know what this means for him as far as suspension or the discipline aspect, but it's important for him to get a hold of it first. The biggest mistake I made was trying to keep basketball as the priority. All the flags were around me. Life is bigger than the sport itself.
"When you have agents, fans, friends, family pushing basketball and all the other stuff gets kind of pushed under the rug when the signs are there that there is an issue. You got to make life the priority before someone else makes it a priority. When someone else makes it a priority, the disciplines, fines, whatever, at the end of the day it means your life isn't the priority. It means that contract may be of importance."
It's good to hear that Baker is doing better. I'd also forgotten that he was still around as recently as the 2006 season. Hopefully, for Lawson's sake, he can learn those lessons that Baker did, before it's too late.