Isaiah Rider Arrested After Missing Court Hearing on Protective Order

Days after Isaiah Rider said he was prepared to go to court to deal with a protective order put in place by his wife … TMZ Sports has learned the former NBA hooper was arrested for failure to appear at his court date.

According to court documents we obtained, Isaiah was not present at the hearing earlier this week to determine whether the order should remain in effect. The docs say his wife, Vanessa, did attend the hearing ... and the judge signed off on keeping the order in place.

Law enforcement in Arizona says the no-show landed the former NBA star in cuffs, telling us, "An individual named Isaiah Rider was arrested earlier today on a warrant for failing to appear at a court hearing on December 15."

"He was booked and processed at the Gilbert-Chandler Unified Holding Facility."

Isaiah's attorney, Benjamin Taylor, told us his client is not going to comment further on the matter ... but the former Laker previously told us he believes his ex is only going through with the protective order because he is moving forward with their divorce.

As we previously reported, it all stems from a protective order Vanessa filed back in July, where she alleged her husband was aggressive on multiple occasions to her and their son. He denied the claims.

Isaiah claimed in the docs that despite the order being filed in July ... he was only served with the papers in December.

The 54-year-old was arrested by cops in Gilbert, Arizona, on December 4 and charged with one count of interfering with judicial proceedings for violating the protective order.

"The Order of Protection was sought and granted solely for safety reasons, to protect myself and my child from further harm," Vanessa told us in a statement. "It was not obtained for leverage, retaliation, or any strategic purpose, and any suggestion otherwise is false and harmful—particularly to victims of domestic violence."