Two league sources on Sunday strongly contradicted Saturday's report by ESPN that the Knicks informed the Mavericks of a pending rape allegation against Kristaps Porzingis during the Jan. 31 call with NBA officials to finalize Porzingis' trade to Dallas.
"The word that was used was 'extortion,' " one of the sources told The Dallas Morning News on Sunday.
"The word 'rape' was never used, only 'extortion,' " the second source told The News.
That is a one-word difference between what ESPN reported and what The News was told, but the difference is significant. ESPN also reported that the "league was aware of the allegations," implying the pending rape allegation that emerged Saturday evening, first reported by The New York Post. The league sources who spoke to The News said the NBA was informed of the alleged extortion attempt by Porzingis' alleged victim several months ago.
The Post reported Saturday that the NYPD was probing a rape claim against Porzingis that allegedly occurred in the NBA star's Midtown Manhattan penthouse on Feb. 7, 2018; just hours after Porzingis suffered an ACL tear vs. the Milwaukee Bucks at Madison Square Garden.
Law enforcement sources in the report said the alleged victim _ a woman in her 20s and who lived in the same building as Porzingis at the time _ reported the claim on Thursday. The woman alleged Porzingis visited her apartment at 2 a.m. before she accepted an invitation to Porzingis' penthouse, where the Porzingis allegedly threw her down and raped her.
Per the report, the accuser told law enforcement that she discussed receiving hush money from Porzingis in the form of $68,000 for her brother's college tuition. The NBA star allegedly agreed, but later went back on the promise.
A police spokesperson confirmed to The Dallas Morning News a criminal report regarding Porzingis was made last week, but declined to detail the allegations.
While "unequivocally" denying the rape allegation, Porzingis' attorney, Roland G. Riopelle, told The Post on Saturday that "we made a formal referral to federal law enforcement on December 20th, 2018, based on the accuser's extortionate demands. We also alerted the National Basketball Association months ago and they are aware of the ongoing investigation of the accuser by federal law enforcement."
Neither Porzingis, nor injured guard Luka Doncic, accompanied the Mavericks to Oklahoma City for Sunday afternoon's game against the Thunder.
Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle was asked prior to the game about Saturday's ESPN report that the Mavericks were made aware of the allegations against Porzingis during the trade call.
"I have no knowledge of any of that, so, therefore, I can't comment on it," Carlisle said.
As for why Porzingis was not in Oklahoma City, Carlisle said, "He was scheduled to stay back today. Luka stayed back. They're working out with our strength coach, who stayed back, and our shooting coach, who stayed back, as well. That was all pre-planned."
Porzingis has practiced with the Mavericks in recent weeks, but it was decided at the time of the Jan. 31 trade that he would not suit up for any games this season. That plan hasn't changed.
Will Porzingis' practice status change in the wake of the allegations?
"No," Carlisle said. "With case of today, this was prescheduled. I don't see any change. If he wanted to take some personal time away from being on the bench or whatever, we would certainly grant him that. But that would be his call."
