The NBA and the NBA players’ union are seeking more information on the early-morning nightclub incident in which Thabo Sefolosha suffered a broken leg that will sideline him the rest of the season.
Videos shot by witnesses and obtained by TMZ appear to show five New York City police officers wrestling Sefolosha to the pavement and another striking the Hawks forward’s lower body with a baton. Sefolosha and teammate Pero Antic were charged with trying to prevent authorities from setting up a crime scene in the aftermath of a skirmish in which Indiana Pacers forward Chris Copeland and two women were stabbed near the Chelsea nightspot 1Oak shortly before 4 a.m. Wednesday.
Both Sefolosha, who suffered a broken right fibula and ligament damage, and Antic have said they intend to fight the charges. On Friday, Copeland was released from a hospital where he had been treated for knife wounds to his left elbow and abdomen. ESPN reported that he also had a fractured rib and a broken elbow. A suspect was immediately taken into custody by police.
Details of the incident remain unclear and on Saturday a New York Police Department spokesman said told ESPN that its Internal Affairs Bureau is reviewing the “entire incident,” which is standard procedure when someone claims to have been injured during an arrest.
The NBA and the players’ union want more answers, though. “We are working with the Hawks organization and local law enforcement to obtain more information about the circumstances surrounding Thabo’s arrest,” NBA spokesman Michael Bass told ESPN.
“There’s a video out that speaks for itself,” Antic said Friday. “The only thing I can say is that we feel bad for the bad publicity that we brought to the Hawks organization and the Hawks family. … We don’t have nothing to do with what happened with that. We weren’t together. We didn’t see the guy, and whatever happened, happened way before.”
Sefolosha was charged with resisting arrest, obstructing governmental administration and disorderly conduct. According to the arrest report, he refused orders to disperse, charged an officer and resisted arrest, requiring several officers to handcuff him.
“The players union is concerned about the circumstances of Thabo Sefolosha and Pero Antic’s arrest and is doing its own investigation of the situation,” NBPA communications director Tara Greco said in a statement Friday. “The union was fully engaged in supporting all three players in court and in the precinct this week, and will continue to stay engaged as each situation evolves.”
The union had representatives at the NYPD’s 10th precinct and in court Thursday.
After spending most of her career in traditional print sports journalism, Cindy began blogging and tweeting, first as NFL/Redskins editor, and, since August 2010, at The Early Lead. She also is the social media editor for Sports.
