NYC To Pay NBA's Thabo Sefolosha $4 Million After Scuffle Outside Chelsea Club

CHELSEA, NY — NBA player Thabo Sefolosha will receive a $4 million payout from New York City after a 2015 scuffle with police that left him with a broken leg shortly before the NBA playoffs. The Atlanta Hawks player filed a lawsuit against the five NYPD officers who he said broke his leg in a fight outside the 1 Oak club in Chelsea. The suit was settled for $4 million, the city confirmed on Wednesday.

The city and the officers admitted no wrongdoing as part of the settlement.

After an unrelated stabbing outside the club, Sefolosha and an officer got into an argument, which eventually escalated to the point where multiple officers knocked him to the ground and handcuffed him, fracturing his right fibula in the process, according to his lawsuit.

Police said that Sefolosha had charged at an officer after the verbal spat. Sefolosha claimed the officers attacked him. After the scuffle, police charged Sefolosha with resisting arrest, among other misdemeanor charges.

The Hawks guard missed the NBA playoffs that year and required surgery and rehabilitation. In his suit against the officers, he accused them of falsely arresting him, in part because he is black, and of costing him years off his career and losing him endorsement deals.

Sefolosha declined to take a plea deal and was acquitted of all charges by a grand jury.

"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," said Nick Paolucci, a spokesman for the city's law department.

Sefolosha's attorney Alex Spiro said in an email to Patch that he was "glad" the matter had been resolved. He did not respond to additional questions about the case.

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