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The NYPD has finally taken an L thanks to the Atlanta Hawks small forward, Thabo Sefolosha.

The New York Times is reporting that the city of New York has agreed to settle a federal lawsuit and pay the NBA player $4 million for a 2015 incident in which the five police officers used excessive force on Sefolosha outside of a Manhattan nightclub and ultimately made a false arrest.

The physical encounter between Sefolosha and the NYPD led to a broken right fibula for the star forward which ultimately cost him playing in the 2015 NBA playoffs and led to surgery followed by months of rehabilitation.

To add insult to injury he was charged with resisting arrest, obstructing governmental administration and disorderly conduct.

After being acquitted of all criminal charges in October 2015, Sefolosha filed a lawsuit against the arresting officers contending that they violated his civil rights, in part because of him being Black, and claimed that the injury shortened his professional basketball career amongst other things.

That night on April 8 2015, Sefolosha was taken into custody while police were trying to clear the scene after Indiana Pacer, Chris Copeland, was stabbed in an unrelated incident.

Police tried to say that Sefolosha was arrested after he tried to charge at police during an argument but that explanation didn’t seem to hold weight.

Even after taking the L, Law Department spokesman, Nick Paolucci, was still somewhat defiant in his statement:

“This settlement is not a concession that Mr. Sefolosha was blameless in this matter and there was no admission of liability by the defendants, but in light of the gravity of his injuries, the potential impact on his career as a professional athlete and the challenge for a jury in sorting out the facts in this incident, the resolution of the case was in the best interests of the city.”

Even though that case is closed, police are still facing a federal lawsuit from Thabo Sefolosha’s former teammate, Pero Antic who was also taken into custody along with Thabo the night of the incident.

Photo: screen cap