Los Angeles Lakers center Jaxson Hayes returned from his one-game suspension in the 105-99 win over the Golden State Warriors on Saturday. Hayes had been suspended for shoving the Washington Wizards’ mascot G-Wiz before a game on Jan. 30, and he was asked about the incident during his press conference after this Warriors game.
“Obviously apologized to the team, to the mascot,” Hayes said, via Dave McMenamin. “I mean, we’re all trying to get ourselves in the mental space and the physical space to get ready to go out and play a game, and when somehow I’m stretching, and somebody steps on my foot, I might have lost it. Should have handled it a different way, and we live, and we learn, and so just going to keep doing that again.”
Hayes just completely lost his cool there. Shoving someone just because they accidentally stepped on your foot isn’t how one would expect a 25-year-old professional athlete to act. The mascot was lifted off his feet and fell toward the Wizards dancers, who were running to the court. Someone could have seriously gotten hurt there.
Lakers head coach JJ Redick had revealed that Hayes had apologized and stated he had made an error in judgment. Redick hoped it was a learning opportunity for the big man, who had to sit out of Thursday’s 119-115 win over the Philadelphia 76ers.
You’d wish to say this was completely out of character for Hayes, but it wasn’t. He was arrested on July 28, 2021, when police responded to a domestic violence call from his then-girlfriend, Sofia Jamora. Hayes had resisted arrest at the time as well and struck an officer during the scuffle. In 2022, he was sentenced to three years of probation, 450 hours of community service, and a year of weekly domestic violence classes.
The NBA then reopened its investigation into this case after TMZ released footage of the violent altercation between Hayes and Jamora. He hasn’t faced any punishment from the league yet for the incident.
Getting back to the present, Hayes had six points (3-4 FG), four rebounds, one assist, and one block against the Warriors. He had been inserted into the starting lineup here after Deandre Ayton was ruled out right before tip-off due to right knee soreness.
We’ll see Hayes and the Lakers in action next against the Oklahoma City Thunder at Crypto.com Arena on Monday at 10 PM ET.
