Atlanta Hawks star Thabo Sefolosha has blamed the New York police who arrested him last week for sustaining a broken leg which has ended his season.
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Sefolosha suffered a broken right fibula and ligament damage after being arrested at the scene of the Chris Copeland stabbing incident outside a New York nightclub last week.
Both Sefolosha and Hawks teammate Pero Antic reportedly prevented the police from setting up a crime scene before resisting arrest which ultimately led to the injury being sustained.
“On advice of counsel, I hope you can appreciate that I cannot discuss the facts of the case,” Sefolosha said, ESPN reports.
“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.”
The former Oklahoma City Thunder star will undergo surgery this week and will miss the rest of the season with the playoffs set to start on Saturday. Sefolosha had played a key role in the Hawks rise to the top of the Eastern Conference this season, but he will now be forced to watch on from the sidelines as they look to upset the odds in the post-season.
The 30-year-old thanked everyone for their support but apologised to both his teammates and the franchise for creating a distraction at a critical time of the season and his defensive presence will certainly be missed.
With the investigation on-going from both sides, it remains to be seen what comes out about the arrest which reportedly took place 100 feet away from the Copeland incident with witnesses sharing videos of the struggle.
The Hawks have also since released a statement but they insisted that they would not be making any further comment until the investigation is concluded.
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