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The 23-year-old center is being investigated by the NYPD after reports surfaced that a woman claimed that she was assaulted at approximately 2 a.m. on Feb. 7 last year in their shared apartment complex. The alleged incident - which was first reported by the New York Post - happened hours after he received a diagnosis that his ACL had been torn in a game.
Reports state that the woman is claiming that Porziņģis held her down on a bed, struck her multiple times in the face and raped her. The woman allegedly came forward to law enforcement after Porziņģis failed to give her $68,000 in hush money that was to help her brother.
Porziņģis, who was traded to the Dallas Mavericks (who allegedly knew about the claims against the star power forward) earlier this year for future first-round draft picks and several players, has vehemently denied the allegations. A lawyer for Porziņģis stated that his camp had already informed federal law enforcement in December to the accuser’s “extortionate demands.”
According to the Post report, on the night of the incident, the 7-foot-3 Latvian was drinking tequila with family in the hours after he suffered the ACL injury.
Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban told the Post that he and the team has been instructed by federal authorities not to comment on the ongoing federal investigation, which is being handled by the NYPD’s Special Victim’s Division. Porziņģis has not been formally charged with any crime as of Tuesday, April 2.
“On the February trade call to finalize the Dallas-New York deal, the Knicks informed the Mavericks of the pending rape allegation against Kristaps Porzingis, league sources tell ESPN,” NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski tweeted on Sunday, March 30. “The league office had been previously made aware of the allegations.”
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