The Atlanta Hawks' Thabo Sefolosha and Pero Antic will head to trial on September 9th as a result of their arrests in front of a NYC nightclub in April. The events occured following a stabbing of the Pacers' Chris Copeland.
Sefolosha and Antic were both arrested after NYPD claimed that they prevented them from marking down a crime scene. Sefolosha also suffered a broken leg as a result of the altercation between him and police. The injury was so severe that he would miss the rest of the NBA regular season and playoffs. This setback impacted the Hawks tremendously as they lost a key defensive presence. Antic continued to play out the rest of the season but struggled to find his shot.
The Hawks battled injuries throughout the playoffs and the loss of Sefolosha impacted Atlanta the most in the Eastern Conference Finals. The Hawks also battled injuries from DeMarre Carroll, Kyle Korver, and Paul Millsap. The absence of Sefolosha put a strain on Atlanta's ability to guard LeBron James. The end result was J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert gaining the ability to spread the floor and getting open shots from the three point line when James was double-teamed in the paint.
Sefolosha signed with the Hawks in the summer of 2014 as a free agent.