A Former NBA Player Gets Arrested for Illegally Squatting in Someone Else's House

Times must have been tough.

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Complex Original

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About two months ago, we told you about how former NBA lottery pick Robert Swiftwas facing legal issues because he refused to move out of a home that he had lost to foreclosure. For all intents and purposes, he was basically squatting in a home that he had once owned. But now comes the news that another NBA player was just arrested for squatting in a home that he most definitely did not own. Worse, he also allegedly tried renting the place out on Craigslist and billed it as an ex-NBA player's home.

The former player is Chris Gatling, a career journeyman who managed to make an All-Star team back in 1997. Police in Paradise Valley, Ariz. say that Gatling stole the key to a home there out of a key box back in July 2010 and proceeded to live in the home for more than a year. The homeowners live in California and didn't realize that Gatling was squatting in their home. But Gatling finally got busted when he listed the "ex-NBA" home for rent on Craigslist for $800 a month. A potential renter became suspicious and called police and he was arrested and charged with squatting in the home.

Gatling denies any wrongdoing. But if it turns out that he did do this, we can't help but wonder how he went from balling in the league for a decade to illegally squatting in homes.

RELATED: Money to Blow: A Recent History of NBA Players Going Broke

[via Deadspin]

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