Kristaps Porzingis was involved in a physical altercation in his home country of Latvia earlier this month that left him bleeding from the head, but the Dallas Mavericks are confident the star big man was not at fault.
Brad Townsend of the Dallas Morning News reports that the Mavericks have investigated the incident and are confident Porzingis was simply “in the wrong place at the wrong time.” The team said in a statement after the video surfaced that Porzingis was “jumped and assaulted,” so their investigation likely confirmed that.
A video that surfaced on social media showed a seemingly irate Porzingis with blood on his face, and TMZ reported that the 23-year-old was attacked by a group of fans who were angry that he was traded from the New York Knicks to Dallas.
Porzingis has now made headlines for off-court reasons multiple times since the Mavs acquired him, though his attorney insists the allegations that surfaced against him over a month ago are completely baseless. Porzingis has yet to play in a game for Dallas, as he was recovering from a torn ACL all of last year.
