Chances are if you have heard of Isaiah “JR” Rider, it is probably for the wrong reasons. Instead of his deadly jumpshot or his explosive dunks, you probably remember a thug who embodied every negative stereotype of a pro athlete.

His nine-year career was filled with run-ins with the law, coaches, teammates and management.

Even though Isaiah has been out of the NBA since the 2001-02 season (where he had a short stint with the Nuggets), he has gotten a lot of press as of late.

Rider has been in and out of jail the past two years, and has been accused or charged with everything from kidnapping to drug possession to domestic violence.

JR’s life hit absolute rock bottom last month when he was arrested in the Skid Row district in Los Angeles driving a stolen car. It was reported on TMZ.com last week that there is a $30,000 warrant out for Isaiah for failing to appear in court for the stolen car incident.

While there haven’t been too many details released on the state of Rider’s life, you can assume two things. One, if he is out there stealing cars, he has probably lost all of the $30-plus million he has earned in his NBA career. And two, his life and his state of mind has spiralled way out of control.

Watching Isaiah’s digression is painful to witness. It is hard to imagine that the mugshots of an overweight, depressed, blood-shot eyed Isaiah is the same cocky, crazy-talented two guard from a decade ago.

Anybody who has seen the Oakland native play, knows the kind of player he was and the kind of player he could have been. He was 6’5” and 215 pounds of pure strength and athleticism. He could score on anybody, and he had that nobody-can-stop-me swagger about him.

And he could switch it up too. At UNLV and with the Timberwolves, a young, explosive JR could take anyone off the dribble and he could bang down a dunk on your face. Who could forget the 1994 Slam Dunk Contest, where Rider did that between-the-legs dunk [the East Bay Funk Dunk] to win it all?

When he was with Portland and Atlanta, he had that post-up game. I remember him in the ’99 playoffs where he led the Blazers to the Western Finals and just dominated every two-guard in his way from Rex Chapman to Jeff Hornacek to Sean Elliott.

Unfortunately his bad attitude, legal troubles and unprofessionalism (tardiness to games) caught up to JR as he finished his career with short one-year stints with Atlanta, the Lakers and Denver before disappearing into obscurity.

There is no doubt that if Isaiah had it all together he would have been an All Star at least three or four times. He could have made a lot more money and he could have left a legacy that would made him one of the best players to come out of the Bay Area ever.

But Isaiah could never shake the street life, and he never appreciated the God given ability that he was blessed with.

Whatever shortcomings that have happened to him in the NBA is irrelevant. You just hope that he gets his life together. The last thing you want is Isaiah to reach the same fate as the late Eddie Griffin.

I remember as a kid, rooting for Rider to succeed. This time around, I’m rooting even harder.