Dennis Schroder is arrested, and I wonder if he's ready to lead Hawks

Brookhaven Police arrested Hawks guard Dennis Schroder at 2 a.m. this morning on a misdemeanor battery charge. I never take a police report as gospel truth ( remember Thabo Sefolosha ?) and Schroder is entitled to his day in court. But this is not a good look for the player the Hawks have spent the past week touting as more mature and ready to lead , with Schroder echoing the same .

According to the police report, a video of the incident showed Schroder “initiate contact” with the victim in the parking lot outside of a hookah bar on Buford Highway. Police say Schroder and three other people later all struck the victim with their hands and feet.

Credit: Michael Cunningham

Credit: Michael Cunningham

Again, that's just what the police report says. We don't know the circumstances that led up to the alleged incident. And I'll never be the one to tsk-tsk players for being out late when they don't have to work anytime soon (the Hawks are off today). I shrugged off the news about Dwight Howard's traffic tickets .

But if there’s video that shows what the police say it shows, then it was a spectacularly dumb and immature move by Schroder. He's the best Hawks player left during this rebuild. He’s a budding star at 24 years old, and the Hawks need this to be his team. They are showcasing Schroder heavily in their marketing push.

With so much at stake, what the hell is Schroder doing (allegedly) getting in a fight outside of a hookah bar? Incidents like this just reinforce the perception that Schroder is not ready to be the face of the Hawks.

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