In the span of eight months, Chris Copeland was stabbed outside a Manhattan nightclub, fellow NBA player Thabo Sefolosha had his leg broken by a New York policeman, Derrick Williams was robbed by two women he invited into his apartment and our newest victim, Cleanthony Early, was robbed and shot outside a strip club in Queens.
This all occurred within a 10-mile radius of the NBA league office and Madison Square Garden, two institutions damaged the most by a string of crimes where in each case the victims are mostly guilty of poor judgment.
That was certainly true of Early, a 24-year-old second year role player who is fortunate not to lose his life in the pre-dawn hours Wednesday in Queens.