Cavs Great Daniel 'Booby' Gibson Tries Using Community Hero Card During Arrest

Daniel "Booby" Gibson was arrested during a routine traffic stop over an arrest warrant for failing to appear in court over a speeding ticket ... and he pleaded with cops to cut him some slack after all he's done for the community -- but the attempt resulted in an airball.

LeBron James' former teammate was pulled over by Beachwood Police in Ohio around 10:30 PM on Monday ... after cops noticed him driving a truck with its taillights off.

In bodycam footage of the stop, 39-year-old Gibson quickly identified himself ... but he didn't really need to, 'cause the officer knew exactly who he was.

The cop explained the situation ... telling the former hooper to simply turn his lights on. Gibson stated he thought they were because he had them set at "auto" (it's a new car to him).

The two actually laughed about it ... and after Gibson name-dropped the Cavs again, the officer said he wasn't going to write him a ticket -- he just wanted to make sure he was driving safely.

One problem -- when the officer ran Gibson's California license ... an active warrant tied to a 2022 speeding ticket popped up in the system.

FWIW -- Gibson was pulled over for going 90 in a 70 during that incident.

The cop told Gibson he was being taken into custody to be extradited to the Ohio State Patrol ... and even though the NBAer thought his attorney had taken care of the situation back when it happened, there was nothing he could say to get out of it.

Booby got pretty frustrated ... saying he usually gets different treatment in the area "because of all the things I've done in the community."

In fact, he thought it was so unfair ... he claimed he would likely move back to Houston because of the matter.

Even though the officer told him the situation was out of his hands, Gibson asked for his name and badge number before getting out of the car and putting his hands behind his back.

"Every time I've ever been arrested out here, or pulled over, every officer has allowed me to go home and handle the stuff from home," Gibson said ... adding he was just hanging out with the mayor earlier in the night.

"So, the fact that I don't get no consideration for everything I do out here just tells me, like, why am I doing it? It just makes no sense to me to be trying to take care of the community when I get treated like s***."

Booby wasn't lying about giving back -- he still helps the youth in his retirement ... unfortunately for him, the law still applies to good people.

But Gibson will be able to move past it all -- he paid his fine for the speeding ticket earlier this week.