-
Mark Fainaru-Wada, ESPN Staff Writer
The NBA has never spoken to the woman who said New Orleans Pelicans center Jaxson Hayes hit her in a 2021 incident that led to her arrest on domestic violence charges.
Hayes, who now plays for the Los Angeles Lakers, was also not disciplined by the NBA after pleading no contest to misdemeanor charges of false imprisonment and resisting an official, despite league policy saying such a plea “would establish a violation. .” For his plea in the criminal case, Hayes was sentenced to community service, a weekly domestic violence class and three years of probation.
Waukeen McCoy and Laura Stone, lawyers for Hayes’ ex-girlfriend, Sofia Jamora, said they remember receiving calls from people in the NBA’s legal department who are investigating the incident. McCoy said he returned the phone and left a message but never heard back.
“They don’t follow me,” he said. “If they really do an in-depth investigation, they can always contact their lawyers and get information from us.”
NBA spokesman Mike Bass declined to respond to specific questions about the league’s investigation into the incident or the outcome.
But pressed on whether the league sought to interview Jamora, Bass said, “An NBA investigator reached several times for Laura Stone, representative of Ms. Jamora, and we did not receive a response to our outreach.”
The NBA said it had reopened the case earlier this week, after TMZ posted a 5½-minute video of the altercation between Hayes and Jamora. At the start of the video, which was captured by a surveillance camera at a home in Woodland Hills, California, Hayes is seen blocking Jamora from trying to leave as he says, “No, stop, I don’t feel safe. Jaxson, stop, stop, what’s your problem?” Later, Hayes is seen pulling Jamora through the door as he says, “Stop it, let me go.” He replied, “What’s wrong with you?”
Shortly after, out of the camera’s view, Jamora can be heard crying, “Get out, please,” as others in the house try to calm Hayes and remove him from the situation. Later, in a video showing Hayes and Jamora outside the house, Jamora says, “I’m not going to let you hit me again. What do I look like, a punching bag?” At the end of the video, Hayes shoves Jamora and then turns around and appears to spit on him.
Eventually, police were called to the scene, and bodycam footage showed Hayes fighting with and pushing officers. Hayes later paid the officer $150,000 to cover his injuries, according to a deposition given by the officer. About a month after Hayes pleaded no contest, Jamora filed a lawsuit against Hayes alleging physical and emotional damages from multiple incidents.
After TMZ posted the video on Sunday, the NBA announced it would reopen its investigation.
McCoy and Stone told ESPN that they will allow their clients to speak to the NBA now, as they would have done during the league’s original inquiry: “If they are investigating, we will certainly encourage our clients to cooperate.”
McCoy and Stone said they have not heard from the NBA since the league announced it was reopening the investigation.
McCoy told ESPN he was not happy about taking the video for the league to look back on, “knowing I’ve been in this case since 2021 and how serious the allegations were and Mr. Hayes’ actions at that time.”
Mark Baute, the attorney representing Hayes, defended his client while accusing Jamora’s team of leaking the video.
“We understand the plaintiff wants to try the case through TMZ or other media,” Baute said. “The plaintiff admitted to everyone on site that night that he was not injured and was not punched or hit by anyone. We intend to cooperate with the NBA’s desire to reopen the investigation now that the plaintiff sends material to TMZ.”
McCoy told ESPN on Friday that he and his client had “no contact with TMZ.” Stone said, “I didn’t send anything to TMZ.”
Asked this week when the NBA first saw the video and what was new that prompted the league to reopen the investigation, Bass issued a statement: “As we’ve said before, the video prompts us to reopen the investigation into this matter. We know and have been monitoring pending civil litigation.” , we will not provide details about the investigation process.
After the Lakers signed Hayes last year, general manager Rob Pelinka revealed what happened in 2021 in an interview with The Athletic.
“I think the most important thing is to take the matter seriously and do a full vetting process,” Pelinka told The Athletic. “Jaxson has been very sincere (with) apologizing about handling it and has moved beyond it to where he has a year or two in the NBA playing after that. It’s something that we felt like he owned, took responsibility for, and will be someone who better on the other side.”
McCoy told ESPN he was shocked when he read it.
“As far as I know, (Hayes) hasn’t apologized,” McCoy said. “I don’t know what he saw or heard that made him talk.
In the civil case, McCoy and Stone sought to depose Pelinka, but the lawyer for Hayes fought to cancel the deposition of the GM of the Lakers. One of Hayes’ lawyers, Artyom Baghdishyan, wrote, “… it cannot be disputed that Mr. Pelinka did not interview, speak, or ask Mr. Hayes about the July 2021 incident, and thus has no personal knowledge relevant to this case.”
Baghdishyan’s statement followed a declaration from Pelinka in which he wrote: “I know nothing about the underlying allegations in the dispute and have not spoken to Mr. Hayes about the civil lawsuit or the underlying allegations.”
He added that the inspection of Hayes was done by an outside contractor, “which is normal protocol” for an in-season move.
McCoy previously fought Baute in a high-profile NBA case. McCoy represented the woman who accused NBA star Derrick Rose, represented by Baute, and two friends of rape in 2013. They were found not responsible, leading Baute to say at the time, “The system works.”
