Troublesome NZ Breakers import Glen Rice Jnr has played his last game for the Australian NBL side.
The club has confirmed that the American was picked up by police on Sunday night, after breaching bail conditions stemming from the assault charge he faced for an altercation at an Auckland bar last month.
On Monday, he appeared in Auckland District Court and subsequently had his contract terminated by the Breakers.
Rice was recruited as an injury replacement player for Scotty Hopson. With Hopson's return to the court scheduled for Monday night against the Brisbane Bullets, he had already been ruled inactive and was likely to be released anyway.
Rice only played three games for the Breakers, but posted eye-popping per-game averages of 25 points and almost seven rebounds.
While the former NBA draft pick's oncourt abilities could never be questioned, his chequered past hung over him.
While attending Georgia Tech University, he was suspended three times and eventually kicked off the team for driving and discharging a firearm, while drunk.
While playing in Israel under current Breakers basketball director Dan Shamir, Rice was named Most Valuable Player of the Israeli Cup final, but was released by his Hapoel Holon club, after punching a teammate in the face.
After two games with the Breakers, his behavioural issues came back to haunt him yet again, when he was arrested following a bar incident in Fort Lane at 4:15am on a Thursday morning.
As a result, the 28-year-old was suspended indefinitely by the Breakers and many assumed it would mean the end of his tenure with the club.
But he was granted conditional clearance by a Basketball Australia Integrity Unit investigation and returned to play the Cairns Taipans on Friday, when he scored 30 points in a 108-90 loss.
The Breakers said they'd provide ongoing support for Rice while he was still in New Zealand.
"The club will continue to assist Mr Rice with his personal struggles, until he is freely able to return home to his family in the United States," the club said in a statement on Monday.
