The NBA never spoke with a woman who says then-New Orleans Pelicans center Jaxson Hayes hit her in a 2021 incident that led to his arrest on domestic violence charges.
Hayes, who now plays for the Los Angeles Lakers, also was not disciplined by the NBA after his no-contest plea on misdemeanor charges of false imprisonment and resisting an officer, despite a league policy that says such a plea "will conclusively establish a violation." For his plea in the criminal case, Hayes was sentenced to community service, one year of weekly domestic violence classes and three years' probation.