Hawks forward Thabo Sefoloshahas been diagnosed with a fractured fibula and ligament damage and will miss the remainder of the regular season and playoffs, the team said Thursday.
Sefolosha was hurt Wednesday morning outside a Manhattan night club, where a police report states he was resisting arrest. Sefolosha was arrested along with teammate Pero Antic for interfering with efforts of local police to set up a crime scene following the stabbing of Indiana Pacers forward Chris Copeland.
The pair of Hawks reserves were released on their own recognizance after arraignment Wednesday afternoon. Neither played in the Hawks’ 114-111 win over the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday night.
Sefolosha will need surgery, the team said.
“There’s a legal process underway, therefore, I cannot comment, other than to state that I believe in Thabo’s innocence completely and am behind him 100 percent,” Guy Zucker, Sefolosha’s agent, said. “It’s an incredibly difficult time for Thabo, his family and the Atlanta Hawks, considering the recent events and the seriousness of his injury.”
Real GM earlier reported the diagnosis.
Sefolosha and Antic released a statement though the team Wednesday night that said: “As members of the Atlanta Hawks, we hold ourselves to a high standard and take our roles as professionals very seriously. 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.”
Sefolosha, who signed a three-year, $12 million contract with the Hawks last summer, recently returned from a 23-game absence after suffering a right calf strain Jan. 30 in the midst of the team’s19-game winning streak.
A defensive specialist who started at shooting guard in Oklahoma City for 355 of his 356 games with the Thunder, Sefolosha has been crucial to the Hawks’ defensive improvement this season. He boasts the best defensive rating on the team by a considerable margin, and ranks sixth out of 86 qualified small forwards in defensive real plus-minus.
On the offensive end, Sefolosha is averaging 5.3 points and 4.3 rebounds with an effective field goal percentage of 46.8 percent in 18.8 minutes over 52 games.
As a member of the New York Knicks, J.R. Smith frequented the nightclub in the Chelsea section of New York, where the Indiana Pacers’ Chris Copeland and the Atlanta Hawks’ Thabo Sefolosha and Pero Antic were involved in a late-night incident this week. Now a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers, Smith says one of his rules for going out could have helped from keeping the situation his NBA brethren found themselves in from ever occurring.
“For me, I feel like a target every time,” Smith said after Cavs shootaround Friday in advance of their game with the Boston Celtics. “So, I try to handle myself with care when I’m out and about. It’s one of those situations when you’re out at 4 in the morning — I’m not saying it’s [Copeland's] fault by any means — but when you’re out at 4 in the morning, there’s no way you should be walking anywhere. Get in your car and go home or go wherever you’re going. That’s one of my cardinal rules. You don’t just stand outside of the events like that. You just get in and go and keep it moving.”
Copeland suffered stab wounds to his left elbow and abdomen, while the Hawks players were both arrested as a result of the incident, with Sefolosha suffering a season-ending leg injury in the process.
“I’ve never seen anything like that at all,” Smith said. “You hear about stuff like that all the time, but seeing it firsthand? I’ve never seen it.”
Smith told NBA.com’s David Aldridge in January that Cleveland was “the best situation for me” in part because, “There’s nothing you expect but basketball. There’s nothing, there’s no going out, there’s no late nights. There’s video games, basketball and basketball.”
Despite the bubble that Cleveland offers compared to New York, Smith said the incident wasn’t unique to the 1Oak nightclub, where it occurred.
“Situations like that can happen anywhere,” Smith said. “It just unfortunately happened to Chris Copeland in New York. As far as it happening, it could go down anywhere. It could be in the nicest places, it could be in the worst places. It’s just one of those situations where you’re at the wrong place at the wrong time.”
He had nothing but positive things to say about 1Oak, in fact.
“It’s a great place to be if you want to have a good time,” Smith said. “It was one of my favorite places when I was there. You get to see people: The Leonardo DiCaprios, the Rihannas, the Jay Zs, Beyonces and people of that sort. So, if you don’t get a chance to go to concerts and stuff like that, it’s a good chance. It’s where you see people and it’s a good vibe.”
The 11-year veteran said that late nights are a product of the NBA schedule to some extent.
“We fly in late all the time, so then we go out [late],” Smith said. “Guys like to have a good time. Just like the average college student. It just so happens that we got a lot of money, we’re young and famous, and people want to want to see us and we like to be seen.
“It just comes with the territory.”
The Kentucky Wildcats will lose their top seven scorers — Karl-Anthony Towns, Willie Cauley-Stein, Devin Booker, Trey Lyles, Dakari Johnson, Andrew Harrison and Aaron Harrison — to the NBA draft from the team that won 38 straight games before losing in the national semifinals.
Towns and Cauley-Stein are both considered lottery picks by NBA executives. Towns is likely to go either first or second overall, along with Duke freshman Jahlil Okafor – who has yet to officially declare for the draft.
Booker, a freshman shooting guard, is also considered a likely lottery pick after shooting 41 percent from beyond the arc this season.
Lyles, a skilled 6-foot-9 forward, averaged 8.7 points and 5.2 rebounds in 23 minutes per game. According to several NBA executives, Lyles will likely be chosen somewhere in the 15-25 range. The 6-foot-11 Johnson is also leaving despite averaging just 6.4 points and 4.6 boards in 16.3 minutes per contest as a sophomore this past season. Johnson, according to NBA guys, is projected as a fringe first-rounder.
Andrew and Aaron Harrison, who arrived at Kentucky as McDonald’s All Americans and projected one-and-dones, have decided to leave after their sophomore campaigns. Aaron led the team in scoring at 11 points per game while Andrew averaged 9.3 points and led the team in assists. After consulting more than 10 NBA executives regarding their draft stock, the consensus was that the twins will both likely be selected somewhere in the second round.
The NBA draft is June 25.
The losses account for 85 percent of Kentucky’s scoring from this past season and 77 percent of its rebounding.
The loss of seven players leaves Kentucky with freshman point guard Tyler Ulis and athletic forward Marcus Lee. Veteran forward Alex Poythress is still weighing his options, according to coach John Calipari, after suffering a season-ending torn ACL after just eight games into the season. Ulis should step into the starting role, but Lee’s role is up in the air with another strong recruiting class coming into Lexington.
Kentucky coach John Calipari and his staff already have commitments from three top-50 players in the ESPN 100 rankings: skilled big man Skal Labissiere (ranked No. 3), point guard Isaiah Briscoe (No. 13) and wing Charles Matthews (No. 42).
The Wildcats are also still in the mix for several remaining top prospects who have yet to make their decision — including scoring guard Malik Newman (No. 4), big man Cheick Diallo (No. 11) and smooth wing Brandon Ingram (No. 12) Seven of the top players in the Class of 2015 have yet to make their decisions.
Duke freshman Jahlil Okafor will enter the NBA draft, coach Mike Krzyzewski said Thursday in a news release.
Okafor joins Corey Maggette (1999), Luol Deng (2004), Kyrie Irving (2011), Austin Rivers (2012) and Jabari Parker (2014) as Blue Devils who entered the draft after their freshman seasons. Each was selected among the first 13 players in their drafts, with Irving going No. 1 in 2011.
Two of Okafor’s classmates — Justise Winslow and Tyus Jones, the most outstanding player at the Final Four — also are serious candidates to jump to the pros.
“What a great decision,” Krzyzewski said in the release. “This is a tremendous opportunity for Jahlil, and he has earned it.”
Okafor led Duke (35-4) to its fifth national championship, a 68-63 victory over Wisconsin in Indianapolis on Monday night. Okafor had told reporters Wednesday that “it would kind of suck” to only get to play a few months alongside longtime friend Jones, adding that whatever he decided would have to be a “business decision.”
Okafor was Duke’s 16th first-team All-American and the Blue Devils’ second freshman All-American in as many years, with Parker chosen last season. Okafor would be just the seventh Duke player 6-foot-10 or taller under Krzyzewski to be drafted in the first round and the first Duke player 6-10 or taller to leave school early and be drafted in the first round.
“Obviously, he has done an incredible job here at Duke and he will always be a part of our Duke basketball family,” Krzyzewski said. “We could not be happier for he and his family.”
Okafor, who averaged 17.3 points and 8.5 rebounds while shooting 66 percent, was the first freshman in Atlantic Coast Conference history to be named league player of the year.
“As early as I can remember, I’ve fantasized and dreamed of the day that I could play professional basketball,” Okafor said in the statement. ” I recall at the age of 6, promising my mom and dad that when I made it to the NBA I would buy them both different colored trucks. They would laugh with me in support and encouraged me to dream big and work hard.
“With that being said and now at the age of 19, my dream is still alive.”
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