The entire sports industry is riddled with scandals and every single week there’s a new one. Several weeks ago – still ongoing – news broke that FBI exposed certain NCAA coaches who bribed athletes to come play for their programs.
Last week, Colin Kaepernick’s attorney, Mark Geragos, and Stormy Daniels’ former attorney, Michael Avenatti, both allegedly try to extort Nike for $25 million or they would release damaging information.
And this week explosive new allegations about a former New York Knicks star might ruin his career for good.
Several years ago when then-General Manager Phil Jackson chose European League star Kristaps Porzingis with the number four overall pick, it was met with frustrated New York Knicks fans booing largely because he was an unknown.
It didn’t take long for those infuriated Knicks fans to warm up to the 7’3” Power Forward who affectionately earned the nickname the “unicorn” exemplifying how unique he is at the game.
Porzingis can shoot over everybody in the NBA, he has handles and is surprisingly quick off the dribble.
Then he was injured early on in the next regular season, which has kept him out – he still hasn’t played to this day – for over a year and a half with many speculating that due to his size, he may never be the same player again.
And just before the trade deadline, the Knicks decided to move on from the unicorn, trading him to the Dallas Mavericks.
However, things don’t always appear as they seem.
ESPN NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski reported that eight months ago, a 29-year-old woman claims Porzingis tried to rape her inside his apartment and wanted the Knicks to “mediate in private” a payment of $68,000 from him to her.
As of now, no criminal complaint has been made, which is why this news wasn’t uncovered earlier. In messages obtained by ESPN between the anonymous girls and the Knicks’ legal team, she expressed no interest in pressing charges.
Wojnarowski noted, “According to the emails, the woman, who lived in the same apartment building as Porzingis, told the Knicks that she went to Porzingis’ apartment to get his autograph in the late-night hours after Porzingis suffered a serious knee injury at Madison Square Garden on Feb. 6, 2018. After what the woman told the Knicks was an “extremely aggressive encounter,” she said Porzingis agreed to co-sign a statement with her that promised his payment of $68,000.”
The Knicks made no comment but after an alleged agreement was drafted up, it’s fairly obvious that the legal team agreed to mediate.
What’s odd though is that she made a conscious decision to stay with him after the alleged sexual assault.
She wrote in an email to the Knicks on October 30, 2018, “After the extremely aggressive encounter, he was very apologetic, loving and caring … hence, the offer he made to pay my (little) bro’s tuition + more. … Although how he treated me was horrendous, as a Knicks fan, I do not want him to get him in any trouble with the law. I stayed back and enjoyed the rest of the time I spent with him. It’s crucial to note the fun times I had with him doesn’t negate the fact that he offered to compensate me as a soothing gift even though I didn’t ask him to.”
Although it seems suspect that she would stay with him after the incident, she did provide pictures and supposedly paid $10,000 out of pocket for reconstructive surgery on her face.
The Knicks appeared to end communication with the woman in early November, which makes one ponder whether his trade to the Mavericks was part of a strategy to distance themselves from the player altogether.
They probably wanted to start anew with a fresh start and new players.