Rookie’s Season Turns Bizarre

Leon Smith’s odyssey has taken another bizarre twist, with the Dallas Maverick rookie spending time in a psychiatric ward after police found him overdosed on more than 250 aspirin.

A house guest called police late Sunday saying the 19-year-old player threw a large rock through the rear window of the man’s Ford Explorer. When officers arrived, they found Smith passed out on the floor of his apartment and wearing green war paint on his face, a police report states.

Smith slightly resisted officers and paramedics, then stopped and “stated that he was an Indian and was fighting Columbus.”

Problems began the first time Smith, who came straight out of high school, suited up as a Maverick. During a July practice, assistant coach Donnie Nelson told Smith to run laps and he shot back, “Why don’t you run it?”

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Isaiah Rider was suspended by Atlanta for one game, with the team citing rules violations dating back to training camp. . . . The Orlando Magic signed 5-foot-5 guard Earl Boykins, placed forward Matt Harpring on the injured list and waived forward Armen Gilliam. . . . Darryl Dawkins will play and coach for the International Basketball Assn.’s Winnipeg Cyclone this season at age 42.