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Several news organizations, including The New York Post, are reporting that the NYPD is probing allegations that former Knicks power forward Kristaps Porzingis sexually assaulted a woman on the night of Feb. 7, 2018. The alleged incident occurred just hours after Porzingis blew out his knee during a game against the Milwaukee Bucks.
As soon as the news broke, there questions surrounding the Knicks’ front office and their trade deadline deal that sent Porzingis to the Dallas Mavericks: How much did the Knicks know at the time, and did that factor into their decision to deal the franchise cornerstone?
We’ll probably never know just what role, if any, the allegations factored into the deal, but ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski is reporting that the Knicks did know about the investigation, and informed the Mavericks before the trade.
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. The league office had been previously made aware of the allegations.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) March 31, 2019
As of the Saturday evening, the NBA is “aware of the situation.”
Statement from NBA spokesman Mike Bass on the allegation Kristaps Porzingis raped a woman last year:
— Stefan Bondy (@SBondyNYDN) March 31, 2019
“We are aware of the situation.”
NOTE: This is obviously a sensitive subject, so let’s keep the comments clean, OK?