New video leads NBA to reopen investigation into Lakers' Hayes - ESPN

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

«As a result of the media report and video posted this morning, we are reopening our investigation,» NBA spokesman Mike Bass told ESPN in a statement.

TMZ posted 5½ minutes of security camera footage from an incident showing Hayes — then a member of the New Orleans Pelicans — arguing with Sofia Jamora. The video shows Hayes appearing to pull Jamora out of a doorway while she can be heard saying, «Stop. Let go of me.» Hayes can be heard replying, «What the f--- is wrong with you?»

Footage from a Ring camera is time-stamped July 28, 2021, starting at 1:35 a.m.

Hayes and Jamora then are shown leaving the residence and continuing their argument in the driveway. «I'm not going to let you hit me anymore,» Jamora can be heard saying in the video. «What the f--- do I look like, a punching bag?»

Not long after that comment, the video shows Hayes walking away from Jamora then turning his head back to spit in her direction.

The Los Angeles Police Department responded to the scene in Woodland Hills, California, after a domestic disturbance call, and Hayes was arrested. In June 2022, he was sentenced to three years of probation, 450 hours of community service and a year of weekly domestic violence classes.

The NBA did not discipline Hayes following its initial investigation into the arrest.

«There has already been an extensive investigation that we cooperated with the league on, and as that investigation reopens, we will continue to do so,» a spokesperson for Hayes told ESPN on Saturday.

Hayes also was ordered to pay restitution at the