PORZINGIS FACES RAPE PROBE
Woman: Attacked hours after his awful injury
NYPD detectives are probing a sex-assault claim involving ex-Knicks player Kristaps Porzingis, sources told the Daily News on Saturday.
Porizingis allegedly assaulted a woman Feb. 7, 2018, hours after he suffered a knee injury during a game that has stalled his career.
But Porzingis’ lawyer says more is going on. He said Porzingis went to federal law enforcement in December to complain that the woman is trying to extort him.
The woman — a 29-yearold Navy petty officer originally from Nigeria — made the complaint Thursday at the 10th Precinct in Chelsea, sources told The News.
One source said the woman reported Porizingis held her down on a bed, punched her several times in the face and raped her. The woman was reluctant to report the case because she didn’t want to hurt Porizingis’ career, the source said.
The NBA player’s lawyer, Roland G. Riopelle, called the rape claim “patently false.”
“All sex was consensual,” Riopelle told The News. “I think there’s going to be no doubt about that when all the facts come out.”
The woman sought $68,000 from Porizingis to pay college tuition for her brother, Riopelle said, adding that he made a “formal referral” to federal officials Dec. 20, based on the woman’s “extortionate” demands.
“Before we went to law enforcement, we did a very extensive investigation of this allegation,” Riopelle said. “This woman was trying to extort money from Kris. She spent months trying to get money out of the guy.”
A report prepared by Porizingis’ investigators says that besides her Navy service, the woman is an entrepreneur. She has been arrested twice on minor charges, the report claims. One case was not prosecuted, and the other was dismissed.
Riopelle called the woman “an unstable person” but added she is “very bright.”
The News was unable to reach the woman Saturday evening.
NBA officials were alerted to the situation months ago, Riopelle said, and an NBA spokesman confirmed that.
Porzingis, 23, who is from Latvia, began his career in Europe. The Knicks picked him up in the 2015 draft.
In 186 games with the Knicks, Porzingis averaged 17.8 points per game, 7.1 rebounds per game and 1.3 assists per game.
He was traded Jan. 31 to the Dallas Mavericks. An ESPN report said the Mavericks were aware of the allegation at the time of the trade.
Porzingis fully recovered from the tear to a ligament in his knee, which he suffered during a game against the Milwaukee Bucks.
That game, Feb. 6, 2018, was the last he played. Though he’s recovered, he’s not expected to play in the Mavericks’ remaining six games.
In a documentary about Porzingis’ planned comeback, Porzingis’ brother and agent, Janis, says that the night of the injury, he, Porzingis, their brother Martins, and his Porzingis’ physical therapist, Manolo Valdivieso, went home and drank tequila shots together.
“We made four shots — [Manolo] Valdi, me, Martins, and Kris,” Janis Porzingis says. “And I just said, ‘To new beginnings,’ And we just drink the shot, and started the next day as a new beginning. That’s what we did.”