Jaxson Hayes Suspended For Shoving Wizards Mascot & Gets Called Out
Jaxson Hayes Suspended 1 Game For Shoving Wizards Mascot & Gets Called Out For Assault Allegations
The one NBA team member you expect to avoid taking a charge is the mascot, but the Washington Wizards’ own G- Wiz became the first.
During the pregame introductions at Friday’s Los Angeles Lakers 142-111 win over the Wizards, Jaxson Hayes got a bit overzealous.
As the announcer was hyping up the crowd and G-Wiz was waving the team’s flag around, as he was attempting to run into the Capital One Arena’s tunnel, he got checked by Hayes. The 25-year-old shoved Wiz right into the path of the players emerging from the locker room.
“Wiz, the Wizards’ mascot, was not injured after the incident with Hayes that led to the suspension,” reports Dan Woike of The Athletic.
Still, the NBA won’t tolerate the unnecessary roughness, and Hayes has been slapped with a suspension.
“Los Angeles Lakers center-forward Jaxson Hayes has been suspended one game without pay for pushing a Washington Wizards mascot during pre-game introductions,” announced James Jones, Executive Vice President, Head of Basketball Operations.
Hayes will serve his suspension on Feb. 5 when the Lakers host the Philadelphia 76ers at Crypto.com Arena.
Despite their mascot getting roughed up, the Wizards have had a successful roster-building effort over the past few weeks.
At the top of the month, they traded away veteran CJ McCullum and Corey Kispert to the Atlanta Hawks for four-time All-Star Trae Young. Then this week, they made an effort to build around Young by acquiring Anthony Davis. In the process, they gave up Khris Middleton, AJ Johnson, Malaki Branham, Marvin Bagley III for guards Jaden Hardy, D’Angelo Russell, and Dante Exum.
The trade has been taken as the Wizards making a serious move toward a win-now mentality, but they are still apprehensive given Davis’ frequent injuries. After all, he only played 29 games during his Mavs stint, and is currently sidelined with ligament damage in his hand after getting it caught in a jersey.
Social media saw the mascot incident and immediately brought up Hayes past legal issues after he was accused of domestic violence in 2021. He was arrested for allegedly assaulting his then-girlfriend, and pleaded no contest to misdemeanor charges of false imprisonment and resisting an officer. However, he was not penalized by the league.
See social media’s reaction below.
