National Basketball Association

NBA player Chandler charged with drug possession

Published May. 19, 2010 10:39 p.m. ET

foxsports

New York Knicks swingman Wilson Chandler was charged Wednesday with a minor drug offense after police said they found marijuana in his car during a traffic stop.

Police stopped Chandler at a corner in Queens on Tuesday night around 11:15 p.m. for driving his Mercedes Benz with the headlights off. When officers approached the car, they smelled marijuana, police said. A passenger in the front seat, Lamonte Yarbrough, admitted to the officers he had been smoking pot, police said.

The officers recovered a plastic bag of marijuana from the console inside the car and five other small plastic bags from the trunk, weighing under 2 ounces in total, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said.

Chandler, 23, and Yarbrough, 22, were charged with 5th degree criminal possession of marijuana, a misdemeanor. They were given desk appearance tickets and must appear in court July 1. They were not taken into police custody.

``We have spoken to Wilson regarding last night's incident and will not be commenting at this time,'' the team said in a statement.

It wasn't clear whether the men, both from Benton Harbor, Mich., had attorneys. There was no answer to a call to Yarbrough's address in Michigan. Chandler's grandmother and other relatives said by phone from Benton Harbor they didn't want to comment.

The 6-foot-8 Chandler averaged 15.3 points and 5.4 rebounds in 35.7 minutes per game this year, missing the final month of the season with a groin strain. He's had surgery on an ankle surgery and a sports hernia since the season ended.

The Knicks exercised their fourth-year option on the guard/forward in October. They had selected him in the first round of the 2007 draft.