After news broke that Pacers forward Chris Copeland had been stabbed outside of a nightclub and Atlanta Hawks players Thabo Sefolosha and Pero Antic had been arrested during the melee, it was discovered that Sefolosha had suffered a season-ending leg injury.
While speculation had been that he was injured by NYPD during the arrest, the forward released a statement through the team today confirming that the police were in fact the reason he suffered a broken leg.
“I would like to begin by expressing my gratitude to my family and friends, the Hawks organization and my teammates. This has been a difficult time for me and I truly appreciate the support I have received from everyone. I am extremely disappointed that I will not be able to join my teammates on the court during the playoffs and apologize to them for any distraction this incident has caused. I will be cheering for them every step of the way and will be diligent in my rehabilitation.
On advice of counsel, I hope you can appreciate that I cannot discuss the facts of the case. Those questions will be answered by my attorney in a court of law. I will simply say that I am in great pain, have experienced a significant injury and that the injury was caused by the police.”
It’s pretty disappointing that Sefolosha feels the need to apologize for police breaking his leg. It will be interesting to see where things go from here, it sure seems like Sefolosha has more than enough reason to file a lawsuit against the NYPD.