{"id":597889,"date":"2026-02-12T01:42:17","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T01:42:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/597889\/"},"modified":"2026-02-12T01:42:17","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T01:42:17","slug":"the-washington-wizards-mascot-has-hired-an-a-list-lawyer-heres-why","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/597889\/","title":{"rendered":"The Washington Wizards mascot has hired an A-list lawyer\u2014here’s why"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Washington Wizards mascot has hired an A-list lawyer\u2014here’s why<\/a> originally appeared on The Sporting News<\/a>. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Washington Wizards<\/a>‘ mascot is taking legal steps after an on-court incident involving Los Angeles Lakers center Jaxson Hayes, and the situation has quickly escalated beyond a routine NBA dust-up.<\/p>\n

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According to TMZ<\/a>, the performer behind G-Wiz \u2014 the Washington Wizards mascot \u2014 has retained attorney Waukeen McCoy following a pregame altercation on Jan. 30 between the Wizards and Lakers. During player introductions, G-Wiz sprinted across the floor waving a team flag when Hayes, rising from a crouched position near the sideline, made forceful contact with the mascot. McCoy has stated that the contact resulted in injury.<\/p>\n

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The NBA responded by suspending Hayes for one game. Hayes later addressed the incident publicly.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI obviously apologize to [my] team, to the mascot,\u201d Hayes said. \u201cWe all try to get ourselves into the mental space, in the physical space to get ready and go out and play a game. And when I\u2019m stretching, and somebody steps on my foot, I might have lost it and should have handled it a different way. So, we live, and we learn.\u201d<\/p>\n

That apology has not closed the matter. McCoy told TMZ that legal action remains a possibility.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will give them the opportunity to resolve the matter before taking legal action,\u201d McCoy said. \u201cBut legal action is anticipated.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The attorney is no stranger to Hayes. McCoy previously represented Hayes\u2019 former girlfriend, Sofia Jamora, in a domestic violence lawsuit stemming from a 2021 incident that led to Hayes\u2019 arrest.<\/p>\n

Police arrested Hayes on July 28, 2021, after responding to a dispute between the two. Video later published by TMZ showed Hayes preventing Jamora from leaving a residence while she repeatedly said, \u201cDon\u2019t touch me.\u201d At one point she told him, \u201cI\u2019m not going to let you hit me anymore. What the f\u2013k do I look like a punching bag?\u201d<\/p>\n

Officers who arrived at the scene engaged in a physical confrontation with Hayes outside the home. Bodycam footage captured Hayes saying he couldn\u2019t breathe as officers restrained him; he was tased twice during the altercation. An internal review later determined officers violated department policy by kneeling on Hayes\u2019 neck for approximately 15 seconds.<\/p>\n

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Hayes ultimately pleaded no contest to misdemeanor false imprisonment and resisting an officer. He received three years of probation, 450 hours of community service and one year of weekly domestic violence classes. He also paid $150,000 related to injuries sustained by an officer, according to ESPN. The civil lawsuit filed by Jamora was dismissed in June 2025 after being \u201csettled amicably,\u201d McCoy told TMZ.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Washington Wizards mascot has hired an A-list lawyer\u2014here’s why originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":597890,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3780],"tags":[7,32,150,6,79940,11786,682,468,3892,683],"class_list":{"0":"post-597889","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-washington-wizards","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-jaxson-hayes","10":"tag-los-angeles-lakers","11":"tag-nba","12":"tag-sofia-jamora","13":"tag-tmz","14":"tag-washington","15":"tag-washington-wizards","16":"tag-washingtonwizards","17":"tag-wizards"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116055123335334980","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/597889","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=597889"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/597889\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/597890"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=597889"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=597889"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=597889"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}