The Charlotte Hornets have waived former first-round pick Kai Jones, president of basketball operations and general manager Mitch Kupchak announced Wednesday.
Jones, the Hornets’ 19th overall pick out of Texas in 2021, wrote Monday on X, formerly known as Twitter, that he had officially requested a trade from the organization.
The Hornets refused to comment on Jones’ post at the time.
The Hornets announced last week the 6-foot-11 forward/center would not be with the team for training camp following some questionable behavior on social media, including a mostly indecipherable video on Instagram Live and other criticism of teammates on X.
“Kai Jones will not participate in training camp due to personal reasons,” the Hornets’ statement read. “There is currently not a timetable for his return to the team. Out of respect for the personal nature of the situation, the Hornets will not have any additional public comment regarding the matter at this time.”
Jones averaged 2.7 points and 2 rebounds in 67 career games with the Hornets.
And…
Hornets Bridges Allegedly Attacked Car with Kids Inside – A criminal summons was issued Wednesday for Charlotte Hornets forward Miles Bridges for violating a domestic violence protective order, misdemeanor child abuse and injury to personal property, according to a copy of the summons obtained by ESPN.
The alleged incident that led to the summons being issued occurred around 9 p.m. on Friday, October 6 at Bridges’ private residence in Charlotte, according to a police report obtained by ESPN. The criminal summons itself describes a series of events during a custody exchange between Bridges, 25 years old, and his former girlfriend, with whom he shares two children.
Bridges is accused of throwing billiard balls at her vehicle while the children were occupying it, smashing the windshield and leaving dents in the car, according to the summons. He is also accused in the summons of threatening her that if she “told the police he would take everything from her and withhold child support” and that he “allowed his current girlfriend to yell, scream and kick the victim’s car while the children were inside it.” The summons does not say if the woman was in the car.
There also is an unserved arrest warrant for Bridges, which was first issued on January 2, for violating the domestic violence protective order, according to a Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson. The warrant was not immediately available because, as of Wednesday night, it had not yet been served.
According to the summons, a hearing on the matter is scheduled for 9 a.m. ET on November 13, 2023, at the Mecklenburg County Courthouse in Charlotte.
“We are aware of the reports and are in the process of gathering more information,” a Hornets spokesperson said.
Attorneys representing Bridges did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In November 2022, Bridges pleaded no contest to a felony domestic violence charge and was sentenced to three years of probation, but no jail time, as part of a plea deal with prosecutors after being accused of assaulting his then-girlfriend in front of their two children in May 2022. The no-contest plea meant Bridges accepted the conviction and punishment without formally admitting guilt.
As part of that deal, Bridges was ordered to follow the terms of a decade-long protective order, which included staying 100 yards away from and having no contact with the woman in the case. He also was required to complete a year of domestic violence counseling and 52 weeks of parenting classes, serve 100 hours of community service and undergo weekly narcotics testing, while not being allowed to own any guns, ammunition or weapons.
In April, the NBA issued a 30-game suspension without pay for Bridges, with 20 games already served, as he sat out last season. The suspension meant that Bridges, who in July signed a one-year, $7.9 million qualifying offer to return to the Hornets, would not play in the first 10 games of the upcoming regular season. Bridges also is not playing in the preseason.
In July, after signing the qualifying offer, Bridges made his first public comments on the matter, saying, “I want to apologize to everybody for the pain and embarrassment that I have caused everyone, especially my family. This year away I’ve used to prioritize going to therapy and becoming the best person I can be — someone that my family and everyone here can be proud of.”
