Lance Stephenson of the Indiana Pacers was charged with assault, reckless endangerment and menacing after being accused of pushing his girlfriend down a flight of concrete stairs.
Stephenson allegedly caused Jasmine Williams, his 21-year-old girlfriend and mother of his child, to fall down 10 steps at about 5 a.m. Sunday, police told the New York Daily News. She was treated for head and neck injuries in the fall Sunday in Brooklyn, a New York Police Department spokesman told the Associated Press. Stephenson, 19, was released on his own recognizance after appearing in Brooklyn Criminal Court.
Stephenson, who played at Abraham Lincoln High School in Brooklyn and the University of Cincinnati for a year, was recruited by the University of Maryland and Under Armour for its basketball shoe division. The move was a controversial one for Maryland Coach Gary Williams because Stephenson had been suspended for fighting with a teammate in high school and was arrested in October 2008 for allegedly groping a female high school student. He was charged with a Class B misdemeanor and pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct in the latter incident.
Still, Stephenson’s talent was undeniable and formidable. “He scores as naturally as we breathe,” Tom Konchalski, a Queens-based recruiting analyst and editor of the High School Basketball Insider, said in 2009.
Considered a first-round NBA draft pick, Stephenson’s legal issues caused him to drop to the second round; he was taken 40th overall by the Pacers in June.
