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Woj: Knicks Told Mavericks of Kristaps Porzingis Rape Allegation on Trade Call
March 31, 2019
The New York Knicks informed the Dallas Mavericks of the pending rape allegation against Kristaps Porzingis prior to the teams' Jan. 31 trade, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
Wojnarowski added that the NBA league office was also aware of the allegation prior to Saturday's report by the New York Post's Tina Moore.
Per Moore, a woman told authorities a sexual assault happened on Feb. 7, 2018, hours after Porzingis suffered a torn ACL in a loss to the Milwaukee Bucks. The woman, who lived in the same building as Porzingis, reportedly told police that he visited her around 2 a.m. and invited her to his room, where he allegedly raped her.
According to Moore, the woman said she did not initially file a report because Porzingis offered $68,000 "to pay for her brother's college tuition—but then reneged."
On Saturday night, Porzingis' lawyer issued a statement denying the claims and saying they had "made a formal referral to federal law enforcement on Dec. 20, 2018, based on the accuser's extortionate demands," via Bleacher Report's Howard Beck:
Mavericks owner Mark Cuban acknowledged in an email to the New York Post that his team was aware of the allegation against the player.
"We have been instructed by federal authorities not to comment," Cuban told the New York Post.
Porzingis has yet to play in an NBA game, either for New York or Dallas, in the 13-plus months since tearing his ACL. Cuban let it be known following the trade that the forward was not expected to return to the court at all this season.
Porzingis, 23, will be a restricted free agent this summer, though both he and Cuban said at the introductory press conference last month that they expected him to re-sign with the club.