Basketball star Felton arrested for pointing gun at wife

Happier times: Felton and wife

An update from  Herring and Pervaiz Shallwani of the Journal http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304834704579404422349398520?KEYWORDS=Felton&mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052702304834704579404422349398520.html%3FKEYWORDS%3DFelton&fpid=2,7,121,122,201,401,641,1009  offers more details:

According to a law-enforcement official, the arrest stems from a semiautomatic handgun that allegedly belongs to Mr. Felton and was left at the apartment of his estranged wife, Ariane Felton.

Ms. Felton and the attorney representing her in divorce proceedings took the gun, which had 17 bullets in the magazine and one in the chamber, to the 20th precinct station house in Manhattan Monday evening because she no longer wanted it in the home, the official said.

Ms. Felton, 26, said that on four occasions, most recently Feb. 14, Mr. Felton waved the weapon around in an aggressive way but didn't point it at her, according to the official.

The official said the weapon and ammunition aren't legal in New York City.

The second- and third-degree charges of criminal possession of a firearm are felony counts, while the fourth-degree charge is a misdemeanor. According to  USA TODAY's Jeff Zillgitt http://allsports.com.gh/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Raymond-and-Ariane-Felton-540x358.jpg , second-degree possession alleges that the person charged “knowingly possesses a loaded firearm,” while the third-degree felony alleges that the person “knowingly possesses a firearm which has been defaced for the purpose of concealment or prevention of the detection of a crime or misrepresenting the identity of such firearm.” http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/knicks/2014/02/25/raymond-felton-knicks-arrested-on-gun-charges/5801693/

If Felton were to be convicted of all three charges, the maximum sentence he could receive would be 23 years in prison — 15 years for the second-degree charge, seven for the third-degree charge and one for the fourth-degree charge. We're a long way from that, of course — Felton's presumed innocent until proven guilty, there's plenty of ways court cases can evolve, and plea bargains remain a possibility (if not likelihood) — but that's the maximum penalty.

After returning to New York via a  sign-and-trade  with the Portland Trail Blazers in the summer of 2012, Felton was a key part of a Knicks team that won 54 games, topping the Atlantic Division for the first time since the 1993-94 season and winning a playoff series for the first time since 2000. With Felton at the controls of a Knicks' offense humming to the tune of the NBA's third-best offensive efficiency in 2012-13, the Knicks seemed validated in their decision to bring back Felton — who had played well for the pre-Carmelo Anthony iteration of the Knicks during the first half of Amar'e Stoudemire's first season in Manhattan before being included in the package shipped to the Denver Nuggets in exchange for Anthony at the 2011 trade deadline — and offer him a three-year, $10 million contract  rather than match http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nba--knicks-could-pass-on-jeremy-lin-after-acquiring-raymond-felton.html  the three-year, $25.1 million offer sheet the Houston Rockets gave to Jeremy Lin. Felton's play has declined precipitously this year, though. http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-ball-dont-lie/jeremy-lin-knicks-james-dolan-betrayed-deceived-161820611--nba.html

The UNC product, chosen fifth overall by the Charlotte Bobcats in the 2005 NBA draft, is shooting just over 40 percent from the floor, just under 30 percent from 3-point range and a career-worst 70.6 percent from the free-throw line this season. He's posting career lows in per-minute scoring, Player Efficiency Rating and True Shooting percentage, which accounts for a player's accuracy on field goals, 3-point field goals and free throws, while operating largely as a defensive turnstile on the perimeter for a Knicks team that has woefully underperformed playoff expectations, entering Tuesday having lost six of its last seven and nine of 11 to fall to 21-36 on the season.

Whether Felton's struggles have stemmed from fitness issues, a hamstring injury that cost him  the better part of a month  or the now-glaring personal life issues remains unclear, but Felton recently expressed displeasure that his private matters have found their way into the news. From  Frank Isola of the Daily News http://sports.yahoo.com/news/knicks-39-felton-2-3-191657486--nba.html : http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/knicks/felton-feeling-phat-fat-article-1.1642517

“It's your life,” Felton said. “When you're going through certain things in life it's on your mind, no matter what. You try not to let it come into your job, into your workplace, but sometimes it does. You're human and it's a part of life. But at the same time, it is what it is. That's my personal life, though; I don't want to discuss that part.”

Felton's poor play led the Knicks to explore deals that could shed his contract and improve the team at last Thursday's trade deadline, but none of the rumored trades — most notably  a swap  that would have sent Felton and Iman Shumpert to the Los Angeles Clippers for a package including backup point guard Darren Collison — came to fruition. In the end, not only did the Knicks not move Felton, but they also  agreed to a buyout http://sports.yahoo.com/news/clippers-knicks-talks-collapse-in-deal-involving-iman-shumpert--030314811-nba.html  with third-string point guard Beno Udrih, leaving Felton, backup point guard/fellow starter Pablo Prigioni and sparingly used rookie Toure' Murry as the only point guards on the roster. Felton has averaged more than 38 minutes per game since the trade deadline. http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-ball-dont-lie/metta-world-peace-and-beno-udrih-bought-out-by-new-york-knicks--become-potential-contender-targets-020503056.html

New York now trails the Atlanta Hawks by six games for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, and will finish Monday night closer to the absolute bottom of the conference (they lead the Milwaukee Bucks by 9 1/2 games) than they are to the top of their division (they're 10 1/2 games behind the Atlantic-leading Toronto Raptors). The Knicks' next game  comes Thursday night http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/new-york-knicks-miami-heat-2014022714/  against the two-time defending NBA champion Miami Heat.