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NBA players often exhibit the most questionable behavior, which is a nice way of saying they act dumb.

One of the dimmest bulbs in the drawer is current New York Knicks player Cameron Payne.

The 30-year-old, formerly of the Philadelphia 76ers, was arrested earlier this year for one of the most baffling reasons for athletes to be arrested. In terms of all-time moments, Payne’s arrest is up there with Gilbert Arenas’ arrest after getting caught hauling 100 lbs. of fireworks.

Payne called cops to his residence in Scottsdale, AZ., over a domestic dispute. Tensions fizzled out, and Payne started to bicker with the cops (the ones he alerted), leading the officers to request basic information to document the domestic distress.

PHILADELPHIA, PA – MAY 2: Cameron Payne #22 of the Philadelphia 76ers looks on before the game against the New York Knicks  during Round 1 Game 6 of the 2024 NBA Playoffs on May 2, 2024 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images)

Purely for documentation purposes, the cops told Payne.

But instead of cooperating, Cameron Payne fumbled around for an alias and landed on “Terry Johnson.”

“No, that’s my fake name. Can you please leave?” Payne reportedly told the SPD officer, adding, “If you want to arrest me for giving you a fake name, congratulations.”

Well, since giving cops a fake name is not exactly legal, Payne ended up in handcuffs and charged with providing false information to authorities.

Now, bodycam footage of the June 14 arrest has been released, and part of the delight of watching the scene unfold was the officers’ reactions to the seemingly outlandish reason for Payne’s arrest.

“You can do that but you rather not doing that would mean I would have to place you under arrest,” one officer responded as Payne considered giving out his alias.

“Just go by what you go by, Terry Johnson,” Payne’s girlfriend advised her NBA boyfriend.

Then, when asked for his date of birth, Cam Payne’s poker face gave away the fake answer.

“I’m going to check this because it kind of looks like you just made up a birthday,” the officer said in the video.

Once the real details came to light, the Scottsdale officers admitted to how ‘dumb’ Payne reacted. In their own words, Payne was ‘five minutes’ away from the officers departing their residence after responding to the player’s call.

“All right, you’re under arrest for giving a fake name. That was dumb,” the officer explained.

“That was the dumbest way to get arrested man … I’ve had people get arrested for dumb stuff and this is the top of the list.”

The second officer continued, “Dude, you realize you could have told us your real name and we would have been gone five minutes ago and now you’re going to jail.” 

Play dumb games; win dumb prizes … Identity theft is no joke, Mr. Johnson!

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