Marbury Is Charged With ‘Extreme DUI’

Phoenix Sun point guard Stephon Marbury was arrested Friday on a charge of driving under the influence after an officer saw his car weaving on the road in Scottsdale, Ariz.

An officer started following Marbury because he appeared to be speeding, then watched as the car began moving in and out of its lane, Scottsdale police spokesman Officer Scott Reed said.

Marbury was clocked at 75 mph in a 50 mph zone and pulled over, Reed said. Marbury’s speech was slurred and his breath smelled like alcohol, police said.

A portable breath test indicated Marbury had a blood alcohol level of .153, the police said. The legal limit for driving in Arizona is 0.08. A blood test also will be conducted.

Marbury was booked into the city jail on charges of extreme DUI, DUI and speeding, Reed said. Extreme DUI, a charge that can be used when a person has a blood alcohol level of at least 0.15, carries harsher penalties.

Reed said Marbury was held for about two hours before being released. The case was referred to the city prosecutor’s office.

“I must accept responsibility for my actions and I apologize to my teammates, the organization and the community for whatever embarrassment I have caused,” Marbury said in a statement.

Sun president Bryan Colangelo, who was in Philadelphia for the All-Star game, said the team would act after the details of the arrest and the legal outcome were known.

“We are extremely disappointed to learn of this incident involving Stephon Marbury,” Colangelo said.

*

Charlotte Hornet guard Baron Davis was picked to replace the injured Vince Carter for Sunday’s All-Star game.

Carter, the leading vote-getter for the third consecutive season, strained his left quadriceps Thursday in Toronto’s game against San Antonio.

Davis, in his third season from UCLA, will participate in his first All-Star game. He is averaging 19.1 points and 8.7 assists.

Davis’ bags were packed for a trip to Los Angeles before he learned at midnight Thursday that he would take Carter’s place on the East roster.

“I was excited--how would you take it?” Davis said. “Man, that was a like a dream come true. This is like a whole other level.”

East Coach Byron Scott said Jason Kidd will start in Carter’s spot.

*

The clock trick known as “home cooking” won’t be a factor in this year’s NBA playoffs.

The league’s Rules and Competition Committee adopted a change in timekeeping practices, mandating that the person running the clock in postseason games must be from a neutral city.

“We’ve had a few occasions in regular-season games where there been some issues with timekeepers,” NBA vice president Stu Jackson said.

Timekeepers, from time to time, have been known to start the clock a split-second late if the home team is inbounding with very little time left on the shot clock or the game clock. The practice has become common enough that players routinely notice when a timekeeper doesn’t provide “home cooking.”

“This will ensure that the game is timed correctly and there’s no concern by anyone as to whether or not there’s anything going on with the home team,” Jackson said.

The committee decided against tinkering with flagrant foul rules, but it did decide to move toward changing the name of the injured list to the inactive list, thereby ending the practice of teams stashing healthy players with phony injuries because there is no room on the 12-man active roster.

Such a change must still be approved by the players’ union.

*

Gerald Wallace didn’t see Julius Erving take off from the foul line, missed Spud Webb’s electrifying performance and the classic battles between Michael Jordan and Dominique Wilkins.

Wallace never was a fan of the NBA slam dunk contest. Today, the 19-year-old rookie forward will try to win it anyway.

“When I was in high school, I could dunk anytime I wanted, so dunking never was very exciting to me and I didn’t pay attention to the slam dunk contest,” Wallace said. “I just want to go out and have fun.”

Wallace, averaging 2.7 points for the Sacramento Kings, will be going against Golden State’s Jason Richardson, Houston’s Steve Francis and Seattle’s Desmond Mason, the defending champion.

It’s the fewest contestants since the event was first held in 1984.

“I got a few tricks up my sleeve,” Richardson said. “I saw what Desmond did last year and I’m sure there’s some things he can do better.”

Today’s schedule also includes a rookie-sophomore game, the three-point shootout and a mini four-on-four Hoop-It-Up tournament with teams made up of an NBA player, a WNBA player, a former NBA player and a celebrity.