Ex-NBA player and former LeBron running mate Hickson charged with armed robbery

By Ross Kelly June 18, 2018 at 3:03pm

Exactly 10 years ago this week, J.J. Hickson was a first-round draft pick by the Cleveland Cavaliers and would spend two years playing alongside LeBron James.

Now Hickson is sitting in a Georgia jail after being arrested and charged with armed robbery stemming from an incident that occurred last week.

The incident happened in Coweta County, which is in the Atlanta metropolitan area. Coweta sheriff spokesman Jimmy Yarbrough said Hickson was allegedly one of two people involved in a home invasion, but he is the only one facing charges.

The Atlanta-Journal Constitution initially reported that personal items were taken from the home and that someone was attacked.

The newspaper added more details on Monday, alleging Hickson stole $100,000 and attacked a 17-year-old.

$100k in cash was in this home when ex-NBA player JJ Hickson broke in and stole it Friday during a home invasion that left with a 17 year old with a broken nose, authorities say. Hickson remains in the Coweta County Jail today. Live report @ 4. pic.twitter.com/2FIhTlzEQi

— Matt Johnson (@MattWSB) June 18, 2018

Per the police report obtained by WSB-TV in Atlanta, Hickson entered the house through a side door and attacked the teenager. The teen received medical treatment and is expected to be OK.

Hickson is a Georgia native and attended high school in Marietta. He was a consensus top-10 prospect in the recruiting class of 2007 and was also a McDonald’s All-American.

He then played one season at North Carolina State and made history in his college debut, going 12 for 12 from the field and scoring 31 points. He set a Division I record for field goal percentage (minimum 12 FGAs) by a player in his first college game.

Does this alleged incident mean the end of Hickson's professional career?

After making the All-ACC freshman team, Hickson declared for the NBA Draft, where he was selected 19th overall in 2008 by the Cavaliers.

Hickson would become the starting power forward in his second NBA season but is best known for a trade that didn’t happen as opposed to anything he did on the court.

During James’ last season of his first stint in Cleveland, the Cavs had a trade for Amar’e Stoudamire on the table. But they refused to include Hickson in the deal and the Phoenix Suns backed away.

The Cavs eventually settled for acquiring the 33-year-old Antawn Jamison instead of the 27-year-old Stoudamire at the trade deadline. After an early postseason exit a couple of months later, James would leave Cleveland for Miami with many pointing to the Cavs missing out on Stoudemire as the reason why.

Just imagine what the landscape would be like today if Danny Ferry had included J.J. Hickson in that proposed deal for Amare Stoudemire…

— David Aldridge (@davidaldridgedc) July 2, 2010

Hickson would play for five different teams during his eight-year NBA career, which ended in 2016.

He then headed to China to continue his pro basketball career in the Chinese Basketball Association. Hickson last played pro ball in Lebanon for Champville SC in April of this year.

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