Report: Knicks Told Mavs of Extortion, Not Kristaps Porzingis Rape Allegation

David Zalubowski/Associated Press

Kristaps Porzingis has been accused of assaulting and raping a woman while a member of the New York Knicks last year, and the Dallas Mavericks reportedly didn’t know the extent of the allegations before trading for him in January.

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski previously reported the Knicks informed the Mavericks of the pending rape allegation while finalizing the trade, but two league sources have contradicted that report.

“The word that was used was ‘extortion,'” a source told Brad Townsend of the Dallas Morning News.

“The word ‘rape’ was never used, only ‘extortion,'” another source added.

According to Tina Moore of the New York Post, the woman reportedly said she discussed a $68,000 hush-money payment from Porzingis but went to the police after not getting paid.

The player’s attorney, Roland G. Riopelle, denied the allegations and said federal law enforcement and the NBA were alerted in December “based on the accuser’s extortionate demands,” per ESPN.com.

“We have been instructed by federal authorities not to comment,” Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said of the accusations, per Moore.

Porzingis has yet to play for Dallas as he recovers from a torn ACL suffered in February 2018.

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