"I got a son and no money, WTF am I gonna do?": North Carolina vet comes clean on scamming Tar Heels fans, suicidal thoughts and mental health issues
North Carolina and NBA veteran PJ Hairston came clean with his past issues. Hairston admitted he had mental health issues and suicidal thoughts after feeling guilty about scamming Tar Heels fans.
The 6-foot-6 Greensboro native made the admission in Friday's episode of the "Run Your Race" podcast hosted by former Tar Heels player Theo Pinson and friend AJ Richardson. At that time, he was living with his mother and was building a house at Somerfield.
Hairston went to his father's home, who had a collection of his North Carolina gear, from practice socks and warm-up jerseys. He thought of selling it to Tar Heels fans and sending it to them after they bought it. However, the NBA veteran said greed set in and he conned them by not sending the orders and ran away with the money. He defended his actions as a way to make ends meet as he had a son to raise.
"So like now I got a son and no money, what the f*** am I going to do," Hairston said (Timestamp 5:16). "So me and my mom ended up getting into it. I moved out my mom's house, go to my dad's house. My dad got a collection of all of my Carolina s***.
"Started selling the s*** and it was legit at first, right? Like it was legit at first. I was really selling the s***, I was really sending the s*** out. But that's when that greed kicked in. That greed kicked in and I wasn't thinking about nobody else."
Hairston addressed his actions and said he was 'disgusted' by them before apologizing:
"I did the s***, bro, like two years straight. ... Now that I look at it, I'm disgusted about this s*** for real. Sometimes it really made me sick to my stomach, 'cause like I let so many f***ing people down, like teammates. people that found out about it.
"So to anybody that like that I've hurt, that I've caused pain to, that I've caused financial trouble to, I'm deeply sorry. I wasn't thinking that I was lost. I didn't really have an outlet because I'm bumping heads with everybody that I'm talking to."
The former North Carolina fan favorite admitted to harboring suicidal thoughts, and said his mental state was affected by the incident.
"I don't really have friends. Because I don't trust nobody, right," he added (Timestamp 7:34). "Now I'm in this phase where I don't trust no fucking body. I don't know who the f*** is out to get me. My mental (state) is f***ed up. Everything about me is just f***ed up. It got to the point where I was having suicidal thoughts."
PJ Hairston regrets the incident, works to return money or give legit jerseys to fans
PJ Hairston regretted the incident and he and his team are working on an initiative to return the money or hand over legit jerseys to the fans he scammed.
"I just wish it never happened. I wish it stayed legit. I wish I could really take back all the s*** that like I put people through that I've taken from people and granted," he said (Timestamp 8:06).
PJ Hairston played for two seasons with North Carolina from 2011-2013, before he was drafted by Charlotte as its first-round pick. He played three seasons in the NBA with the Hornets and Memphis Grizzlies.
Hairston played 111 games and averaged 6.0 points and 2.4 rebounds with both teams. He signed with the Houston Rockets in September 2016 but was waived a month later. He had another opportunity with Rockets' affiliate Rio Grande Valley Vipers in the NBA D-League before announcing his retirement from basketball in 2018.