A veteran NBA guard who played college basketball at Georgia Tech said he was racially profiled Thursday during a traffic stop about 70 miles northeast of Atlanta.
Anthony Morrow, who spent part of his NBA career with the Atlanta Hawks and last played for the Chicago Bulls, posted on social media that authorities pulled him over without reason in Commerce, which is in Jackson County.
In an Instagram post, the 31-year-old Morrow said officials stopped him when he was driving the speed limit along I-85. He said he was driving from Charlotte to Atlanta to pick up his daughter and bring her back for the weekend at the time of the traffic stop.
After giving authorities his driver’s license, Morrow said they asked him if he had drugs in the car and tore it apart looking for illegal drugs.
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“No probable cause, no drug scent, no indication of me being intoxicated,” Morrow wrote. “I posted this to let people know profiling is REAL no matter what your profession is. I fit the look of a guy driving a certain car that would have drugs and money in my car so I got randomly pulled over and violated.”
On Twitter, Morrow said he filed an official complaint, but it is not clear where he filed it.
Commerce police Chief Zach Ardis told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution there is a large unincorporated area that is policed by other jurisdictions.
He said Georgia State Patrol troopers, not the Commerce Police Department or the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office, initiated the traffic stop. The GSP did not release details about the stop. An official responded with a copy of a traffic warning Morrow received due to the window tint on his car.
Morrow made the Golden State Warriors as an undrafted rookie in 2008 and played portions of last season for the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Bulls. Morrow has yet to sign with a team to play next season.
At Tech, he made a three-pointer a game for 41 games straight, a school and conference record. Morrow finished his career in 19th place on Tech’s all-time scoring list with 1,400 points.
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