Warrant Out For Mavs' Smith

December 3, 1999 / 4:31 PM EST / CBS/AP

A judge issued an arrest warrant for Leon Smith on Monday after learning the Dallas Mavericks' rookie forward left Illinois to receive psychiatric treatment in Texas.

"His bond slip states that he can't leave the jurisdiction of this court," Circuit Judge George J.W. Smith said.

The judge said the troubled 19-year-old, who signed a $1.45 million, three-year pro contract out of high school, should have gotten court permission before leaving his jurisdiction.

Defense attorney Dennis A. Berkson said Smith was in a Dallas-area hospital receiving psychiatric treatment under an NBA Players Association program. He urged the judge to hold off on the warrant, saying Smith was "in the best place possible for himself and society."

Smith faces charges of aggravated assault, criminal damage to property and protective order violation. He is accused of threatening his former girlfriend with a gun and only days later ramming her mother's car and smashing its windows.

Berkson said he would press for a court order blocking execution of the warrant but expressed doubt that Smith would be arrested in the hospital in any case. He said if the courts insist on bringing his client to Chicago he would find a way to surrender him here.

Smith was drafted last June by the San Antonio Spurs, who then traded him to Dallas, but he has yet to play for the Mavericks. He is on the team's injured list because of a back strain, but personal problems have plagued him for the past month.

He was arrested Nov. 14 and placed in a psychiatric ward after Dallas police found him overdosed on aspirin. He was charged with criminal mischief after he reportedly smashed the rear window of a friend's sport utility vehicle.

Berkson and Smith's former high school coach, Landon "Sonny" Cox, were critical of the Mavericks for not doing more to help Smith adjust to the NBA, saying he arrived in Dallas the product of 15 years in a group home and with emotional difficulties.

"He is not a very worldly 19-year-old," Berkson said.

Russ Granik, NBA deputy commissioner, said Smith's recent legal troubles in Chicago could nullify his $1.45 million contract with the Mavericks.

Mavericks team president Terdema Ussery declined to say what action would be taken against Smith.

"We have tried, and continue to try, to be extremely patient, but we're all running out of options here," Ussery said. "As his behavior continues to spiral downward, we have to be prepared to look at everything."