There but for...

Why Snyder? Why not me?

Jealousy runs amok and surely someone was thinking the thoughts above when Kirk Snyder landed a basketball scholarship with Nevada and then made in to the Big Show with a number of NBA teams.

But the same questions can also be asked involving Snyder's latest hurdle. It's not something someone chooses -- it just happens for no rhyme or reason, striking the large and the small, the rich and the poor.

May Kirk Snyder get and remain healthy.

Kirk Snyder: A life unraveled
After earning nearly $6.7 million as an NBA player, Snyder could face 18 years behind bars.
Ross Siler
The Salt Lake Tribune
12/20/2009

Mason, Ohio - The alleged attack happened March 30 among the red brick and white columns of the Beacon Hill Townhomes, a development so new it's not easily found on maps of this town that bills itself as "Cincinnati's Top Suburb."

At 3:36 a.m., former Jazz first-round draft pick Kirk Snyder allegedly broke into the home of his neighbors, Bradley and Eugenia Roberts, and beat a sleeping Bradley with both his fists and an alarm clock, according to police reports.

The assault was as violent as it was brief. Snyder allegedly fled the home minutes later as Eugenia Roberts came to her husband's aid. Police quickly identified him and arrested him at gunpoint, then booked him into the Warren County Jail in bloodstained clothes.

"There's parts of the county that this is common," Warren County assistant prosecutor Matt Nolan said, "but in that subdivision, I can't remember another case coming out of it of this nature."

The same could almost be said about Synder's strange, sad tale. An impossibly gifted athlete, he was the No. 16 pick in the 2004 NBA Draft, taken ahead of players such as Josh Smith, J.R. Smith, Jameer Nelson, Kevin Martin, Anderson Varejao and Trevor Ariza . Snyder earned nearly $6.7 million in his career.

Go here for the remainder.

Jonathan Abrams of the New York Times also has a piece on Snyder.