Local Sports Star Busted For Gravesend Assault

From the NY Post:

Former HS hoops star busted for allegedly pushing baby mama down stairs

Former city high-school hoops phenom Lance Stephenson — who just went pro in the NBA — was busted yesterday for pushing his baby mama down the stairs of her Brooklyn home, cops said.

The 6-foot-5, 210-pound Stephenson — who holds the state record for scoring and who led Lincoln HS in Brooklyn to four city championships — was charged with felony assault, weapons possession and other raps after the 5:05 a.m. violence on the stairwell of gal pal Jasmine Williams’ Gravesend home, authorities said.

Williams, 21, with whom Stephenson has a child, told cops that he pushed her down 10 steps and she struck her head.

She was taken to Coney Island Hospital with injuries that were described as not serious.

Stephenson, 19, was arrested at the scene. He was charged with two counts of assault — one of which is a felony — two counts of menacing and one count of harassment, authorities said.

The felony carries a minimum sentence of seven years in prison. If Stephenson is convicted on all counts, he could face 12 years behind bars.

…

Stephenson’s off-court woes haven’t derailed his career so far.

He was named the Big East’s Rookie of the Year for 2010. He quickly became a “one-and-done” player, meaning he spent his obligatory year in college — the University of Cincinnati — to satisfy NBA standards before being drafted No. 40 overall and signing with the Indiana Pacers.

It’s not clear if his arrest will jeopardize his three-year NBA contract, which reportedly guarantees him $700,000 the first year and $800,000 in the second.

You can read the rest of the article here, but it’s mainly just mumbo jumbo about other sports stars, like K-Rod, that have recently nabbed headlines for similar trouble.

My only question about this story, though, has very little to do with the incident itself. And maybe I’m opening up Pandora’s Box by mentioning it, buuut…

Do you think the New York Post would’ve repeatedly referred to Jasmine Williams as Stephenson’s “baby mama” if he were not black?