Thabo Sefolosha suffered a season-ending injury the night he was arrested during an incident at a New York club that saw three people stabbed, including Pacers forward Chris Copeland.
Sefolosha and Atlanta Hawks teammate Pero Antic were arrested for resisting arrest and making it difficult for officers to set up a crime scene after the stabbings at 1 Oak nightclub in New York. Reports say Sefolosha suffered a fractured fibula while resisting. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution says Thabo had a limp Wednesday as he was escorted to be arraigned. He reportedly will miss the rest of the season and playoffs for the Eastern Conference-leading Hawks.
Antic and Sefolosha issued statements in response to their arrests.
“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,” the two said in a statement.
The Hawks have just been getting used to playing with Sefolosha, who played in seven straight games prior to Wednesday after missing the previous 23 with a right calf strain. He also missed two games earlier in the season with the flu. The veteran forward and defensive stopper was averaging 5.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and a steal in 18.8 minutes per game this season.
