NBA reopens domestic violence investigation against Jaxson Hayes

The Los Angeles Lakers were thin at the center position, with Jaxson Hayes currently serving as the only healthy replacement for Anthony Davis.

Hayes signed a minimum two-year contract with the Lakers in 2023, with the second year being a player option that he exercised to return to the team for the 2024–25 season.

The Lakers signed Hayes despite his domestic violence issues in 2021 with the New Orleans Pelicans. Hayes was arrested over the incident along with his girlfriend and later sentenced to three years probation, 450 hours of community service and one year of weekly domestic violence classes.

The NBA did not discipline Hayes after its initial investigation into the arrest, but more evidence was recently released in the form of a TMZ video and the league is subsequently reopening its investigation, according to ESPN's Dave McMenamin:

The NBA is reopening an investigation into a 2021 incident involving Los Angeles Lakers center Jaxson Hayes after TMZ posted a video of the altercation between him and his then-girlfriend on Saturday.

“Based on the media report and video released this morning, we are reopening our investigation,” NBA spokesman Mike Bass said in a statement to ESPN.

The evidence in the video appears to be pretty damning for Hayes, who is a 24-year-old former No. 8 overall pick from Texas:

TMZ released 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 door as she can be heard saying, “Stop. Let me go.” Hayes can be heard replying, “What the hell is wrong with you?”

Hayes and Jamora are then shown leaving the house and continuing their argument in the driveway. “I won’t let you hit me anymore,” Jamora says in the video. “What the hell do I look like, 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 in this way:

“There has already been a comprehensive investigation in which we have been cooperating with the league, and if that investigation reopens, we will continue to do so,” a spokesman for Hayes told ESPN on Saturday.

The Lakers organization is also aware of what is happening and is also cooperating:

A Lakers spokesman contacted Saturday night told ESPN: “We are cooperating with the league.”

Depending on what the Lakers decide after the investigation, Hayes could face a lengthy suspension, which would leave the Lakers even more shorthanded upfront.

The video obtained by TMZ, which contains sensitive content, can be viewed HERE.

Jaxson Hayes likes set rotations under JJ Redick

Jaxson Hayes was the Lakers' primary backup center early in the season, and he recently spoke about how much better it is to set rotations and substitution patterns under new head coach JJ Redick.

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