Thabo Sefolosha Out For Playoffs After Injuries Confronting Police Outside New York Nightspot
Thabo Sefolosha will sit out the NBA playoffs, giving the Eastern Conference top seed Atlanta Hawks one less option thanks to the Swiss-born small forward’s ill-advised clash with New York City police outside an exclusive nightclub in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
Sefolosha, a 10-season NBA veteran in his first year with Atlanta, had just left the 1 OAK nightclub on West 17th Street in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood when Indiana Pacers player Chris Copeland was apparently attacked and stabbed by a man who stepped in the middle of an argument between Copleand and a woman, who was also stabbed.
Copeland is now in stable condition in a New York hospital.
But when police showed up, according to a police report, Sefolosha acted in “an aggressive manner” toward the cops, and was subdued only after four officers were able to handcuff the 30-year-old, 6-foot-7-inch 220-pounder.
“When I approached the defendant to place him under arrest for the above described conduct, I observed the defendant flail his arms, twist his body, kick his legs, and struggle against me making it difficult for me to place handcuffs on him and complete the arrest,” wrote the arresting officer in his official report. “It took four officers to place the defendant in handcuffs.”
At some point in the altercation, Sefolosha suffered a broken ankle.
Atlanta’s Thabo Sefolosha has been diagnosed with a broken ankle from NYPD incident early Wednesday, out for season, sources tell RealGM.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) April 9, 2015
And that’s the season for the defensive specialist, leaving the Hawks with a significant hole to fill in their reserve corps heading into the postseason.
Sefolosha and teammate Pero Antic were both arrested and hit with three misdemeanor charges relating to the struggle with police, but the two players issued a statement saying they plan to defend themselves against the charges.
“As members of the Atlanta Hawks, we hold ourselves to a high standard and take our roles as professionals very seriously,” the statement read. “We will contest these charges and look forward to communicating the facts of the situation at the appropriate time. We apologize to our respective families, teammates, and the Hawks organization for any negative attention this incident has brought upon them. We are unable to provide further comment as this is an ongoing legal matter.”
Atlanta Hawks Coach Mike Budenholzer said that the team supports Thabo Sefolosha and though he will be out for the rest of the season, the Hawks “will be prepared as we head into the postseason.”
[Image: Alex Goodlett/Getty Images]
