Authorities in New York say they are investigating a woman’s claim that NBA star Kristaps Porzingis raped her shortly after he sustained a season-disrupting knee injury during a game last year.
According to the New York Post, a police source said the woman’s “believable” allegation included a sexual assault at the athlete’s penthouse residence in Manhattan on February 7, 2018.
The alleged victim was identified as a woman in her 20s who is a resident of the same building. She said Porzingis held her down and raped her early on the morning after his injury.
After the alleged assault, the woman reportedly told investigators that the Dallas Maverick promised to give her $68,000 to pay for her brother’s education in exchange for her silence. She claimed he never paid up.
Porzingis is reportedly claiming the woman is extorting him.
As of the Post’s exclusive report, special-victims detectives in the New York Police Department were conducting an investigation into the claims.
Mavericks’ owner Mark Cuban confirmed in an email that the team was aware of the allegations and had “been instructed by federal authorities not to comment.”
A spokesperson for the New York Knicks — Porzingis’ team at the time of the alleged rape — described the claims as “Kristaps’ personal matter and not related to the Knicks.”
[Featured image: Kristaps Porzingis, AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File]
