If you thought the recent arrest of a star NBA player had nothing to do with college football, you, like myself, would’ve thought wrong.
Former Michigan State hoops star and current Golden State Warriors serial nutcracker Draymond Green was arrested over the weekend and charged with assault. Green was in East Lansing at the time of the incident, which occurred at an establishment around 2:30 local time that morning.
According to multiple media outlets, the police report obtained from the incident shows the alleged target of the assault -- current Spartans cornerback Jermaine Edmondson. The incident allegedly began when Green bumped into Edmondson, who then told Green to watch where he was going. Green’s response?
“Do you know who I am?”
The situation then devolved from there. From mlive.com:In statements from the two arresting officers, one reported seeing a taller, black male wearing a white t-shirt “open-handedly slap another black male across the face.” The other officer reported hearing “a loud slap sound.”
The incident occurred amid a crowd “that began to get very loud as people were arguing back and forth” outside Conrad’s.
Edmondson, who said he wasn’t injured by the slap, subsequently indicated to police that he wanted to press charges. His girlfriend was quoted as saying the NBA star “should not be able to get away with that.”
“I think when things happen, I think you meet them head on,” Green said Tuesday according to the San Jose Mercury News. “My legal team is handling it. It will be resolved really quickly. As a public figure, I just can’t put myself in certain situations. It’s something that I’ll learn from and just move on.”
“Draymond is completely innocent -- ‘completely’ should be capitalized,” Green’s attorney, James Heos, told the Mercury News late last night.
The 22-year-old Edmondson, who turned 22 the day of the incident, will be a redshirt senior cornerback for the Spartans in 2016. Edmondson has appeared in 38 games during his time in East Lansing, including all 14 games in 2015. Last season, he recorded career-highs in tackles (24), tackles for loss (2.5), pass break-ups (three) and fumble recoveries (two).