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Hornets’ Hairston no longer faces assault charge
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.
All posts by Jeff HawkinsUpdated15 Oct 2021
A misdemeanor assault charge from last summer against Charlotte Hornets rookie P.J. Hairston was dropped by the Durham County (N.C.) district attorney’s office.
High school student Kentrell Barkley requested that the charge be dropped, District Attorney Roger Echols said Thursday. Barkley accused Hairston of hitting him in the face during a pickup basketball game at the Durham YMCA in July.
Hairston had just been selected in the first round of the NBA Draft before the alleged incident occurred.
As a sophomore in 2012-13, Hairston led North Carolina in scoring, but before his junior year he was suspended because of eligibility issues and did not play after the university decided against seeking his reinstatement.
Hairston finished last season in the NBA Development League, where he averaged 21.8 points per game for the Texas Legends. He was drafted 26th overall by the Miami Heat, then was dealt to Charlotte for the 24th overall pick (Connecticut guard Shabazz Napier) and two second-round picks.
Barkley, a 6-foot-5 senior at Northern Durham High School, said this summer in court documents that Hairston “punched him twice in the head” during a heated basketball game at the Durham YMCA.
“We were playing open gym and I was running up the court and he hit me in the forehead with his fist,” the 17-year-old Barkley told ESPN.com. “I walked up to him and asked him what happened, and then he hit me again in the neck.”
