Isaiah Rider. Image via: Getty ImagesIsaiah Rider was arrested again Thursday night, his third arrest in less than two months, this time on a misdemeanor charge for failing to comply with a court order. Maricopa County jail records show the former NBA Slam Dunk champion was booked Friday morning, pleaded guilty, and is expected to remain in custody until Tuesday.The charge traces back to a protective order his estranged wife, Vanessa, obtained last year. Rider, 55, has now been arrested twice before in connection with that same order, and the latest booking keeps a messy divorce and custody dispute firmly in public view.Former NBA champion Isaiah Rider arrested, againThis is not new territory for Rider. He was picked up twice in December, first for allegedly violating the protective order and then again days later for skipping a hearing on whether that order should stay in place. A judge extended it after Vanessa showed up and Rider did not.Thursday's arrest follows the same pattern, a court-related misdemeanor rather than a new allegation of contact or violence, per TMZ. Police records describe it simply as a failure to comply with a court order, and the guilty finding suggests Rider did not contest it once he was in front of a judge.The former fifth overall pick in the 1993 NBA Draft spent nine seasons in the league, three years apiece with the Minnesota Timberwolves and Portland Trail Blazers before single seasons with the Atlanta Hawks, Los Angeles Lakers and Denver Nuggets. He won the Slam Dunk Contest as a rookie in 1994 and picked up a championship ring in 2001, even though he did not make the Lakers' playoff roster that year.What happened to Isaiah Rider?The trouble began last year when Vanessa filed for a protective order, alleging Rider had been hostile toward her on multiple occasions. Court documents describe threatening language directed at her and their teenage son. Rider has denied the allegations and pointed instead to the timing of his own divorce filing in November 2024, arguing the order followed shortly after he moved to end the marriage.The order barred Rider from contacting Vanessa or their son and from going near the family home or the boy's school. Rider has claimed in filings that he did not receive the paperwork until December, weeks after it was granted in July.He was arrested that same month for allegedly violating the order, then arrested again for missing the hearing on whether it should be extended. Vanessa appeared for that hearing. The judge sided with her and kept the order in place, setting up the conditions that led to Thursday's arrest.Is Isaiah Rider's latest arrest related to his wife Vanessa?Yes, at least indirectly. Thursday's booking was not for a new incident involving Vanessa but for failing to comply with a court order that exists because of her original petition, which makes this arrest part of the same unresolved case rather than a separate legal matter.Vanessa has been consistent about her reasons for seeking the order in the first place. "The Order of Protection was sought and granted solely for safety reasons, to protect myself and my child from further harm," she said in a statement, adding that she views the process as necessary rather than tactical and has asked the public to respect the privacy of a case involving a minor.