"The investigation has been reopened" - JJ Redick shares Lakers' stance on NBA’s renewed probe into Jaxson Hayes’ incident with GF Sofia Jamora
LA Lakers head coach JJ Redick reacted to the NBA reopening the investigation regarding Jaxson Hayes' 2021 domestic incident with girlfriend Sofia Jamora. At the time, the player was still a member of the New Orleans Pelicans, but the incident happened in Los Angeles during the NBA offseason.
Redick talked about this decision on Sunday and the Lakers' current stance on the situation.
"We're obviously aware that the investigation has been reopened and we're going to cooperate fully. But other than that, I'm not going to have another comment on that," he said, per Lakers reporter Jovan Buha.
Jaxson Hayes was initially charged with 12 misdemeanors, including destroying property, use of force and resisting a police officer, according to TMZ. Ten counts were dropped while Hayes pleaded no contest to false imprisonment and resisting an officer. The aftermath was three years of probation and 450 hours of community service in June 2022, per ESPN.
Hayes spent four seasons with the Pelicans (2019 through 2023) before joining the Lakers ahead of the 2023-24 campaign. The former No. 8 overall pick hasn't had a stellar career, considering how high he was selected in the draft, but he has become a decent role player.
In 70 games played with the Lakers last season, Hayes averaged 12.5 minutes, 4.3 points, 4.2 rebounds, 0.5 assists and 0.4 blocks per game. This season, he's posting 5.0 ppg, 4.2 rpg and 1.2 apg while making 92.3% of his attempts from the field.
Why did the NBA decide to reopen the investigation into Jaxson Hayes' incident?
Three years after this incident happened, video footage of Jaxson Hayes' altercation with his ex-girlfriend and the police surfaced online on Saturday. This video was recorded about an hour before Hayes got into an altercation with members of the LAPD.
Sofia Jamora can be heard telling Hayes to stop getting in her way as she tries to leave the house while repeating she doesn't feel safe in that place. Jamora then moves to another room where she tells Hayes not to touch her and then asks the player to let go of her. She makes it clear that she wouldn't allow the player to hit her again.
NBA spokesperson Mike Bass told ESPN in a statement Saturday that the league would be reopening its investigation due to the posted video.