The Los Angeles Lakers have been thin at the center position with Jaxson Hayes serving as the only current healthy backup to Anthony Davis.
Hayes signed a two-year minimum contract with the Lakers in 2023 with the second year being a player option that he chose to pick up to return to the team for the 2024-25 season.
The Lakers signed Hayes despite him having a past domestic violence issue in 2021 while with the New Orleans Pelicans. Hayes was arrested for the incident with his girlfriend and later sentenced to three years of probation, 450 hours of community service and a year of weekly domestic violence classes.
The NBA did not discipline Hayes following its initial investigation into the arrest, however, some more evidence in the form of a TMZ video recently came out and the league is reopening its investigation as a result, per Dave McMenamin of ESPN:
The NBA is reopening an investigation into a 2021 incident involving Los Angeles Lakers center Jaxson Hayes after TMZ posted a video Saturday of the altercation between him and his then-girlfriend.
“As a result of the media report and video posted this morning, we are reopening our investigation,” NBA spokesman Mike Bass told ESPN in a statement.
The evidence in the video appear to be pretty damning for Hayes, who is a 24-year-old former No. 8 overall pick out of Texas:
TMZ posted 5½ minutes of security camera footage from the 2021 incident showing Hayes — then a member of the New Orleans Pelicans — arguing with Sofia Jamora, his then-girlfriend. The video shows Hayes appearing to pull Jamora out of a doorway while she can be heard saying, “Stop. Let go of me.” Hayes can be heard replying, “What the f— is wrong with you?”
Hayes and Jamora then are shown leaving the residence and continuing their argument in the driveway. “I’m not going to let you hit me anymore,” Jamora can be heard saying in the video. “What the f— do I look like, a punching bag?”
Not long after that comment, the video shows Hayes walking away from Jamora and then turning his head back to spit in her direction.
Hayes says he will continue to cooperate with the league’s investigation into the manner:
“There has already been an extensive investigation that we cooperated with the league on, and as that investigation reopens, we will continue to do so,” a spokesperson for Hayes told ESPN on Saturday.
The Lakers organization is also aware of what is going on and cooperating as well:
A Lakers spokesperson contacted Saturday night told ESPN, “We are cooperating with the league.”
Depending on what the Lakers decides after investigating, Hayes could be facing a lengthy suspension, which would leave the Lakers even more short-handed in the frontcourt.
The video that was obtained by TMZ, which includes sensitive content, can be viewed HERE.
Jaxson Hayes likes set rotations under JJ Redick
Jaxson Hayes has been the Lakers’ primary backup center to start the season, and he recently discussed how much better it has been having set rotations and substitution patterns under new head coach JJ Redick.
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