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Woman Claims Two Lakers Players Sexually Harassed Her & Her Mom [UPDATE]
(L-R) Robert Sacre, Nick Young, Jordan Clarkson, Brandon Bass and Larry Nance Jr. of the Los Angeles Lakers watch play from the bench. Young and Clarkson are accused of sexually harassing a woman and her mother at a red light. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
A woman posted a photo of two men she claimed sexually harassed her and her mother to social media, asking if anyone could identify them. It turns out those two men were Lakers players. Alexis Jones said that she and her mother were stopped at a red light near Melrose and LaBrea on Sunday at about 7:30 p.m. when two men in a Jeep began leaning out of the car "and making really inappropriate and sexual and disgusting gestures at my mom," NBC 4 reports.
Jones took photos of the men with her phone. She said she had assumed they were a couple of teenagers and posted the the images to her Twitter account, hoping someone could identify them.
Soon, several people began commenting that the men were not random teens causing trouble, but Lakers players Nick Young and Jordan Clarkson.
Jones said a spokesperson for the NBA team later called and apologized to her for the men's behavior. Lakers spokesperson John Black told NBC 4 that they are investigating the alleged harassment and taking it "very seriously."
Jones says that even though she might have responded differently had she recognized the men, she does not regret posting the images. Oddly enough, Jones is an author and also the creator of the nonprofit ProtectHer, which aims to combat sexual harassment and abuse in athletics. She claims she had been talking to the NBA as recently as last week about "integrating this message and this program into the NBA."
She told ESPN, "I'm not special. This is happening to women everywhere. I'm not here to shame them. That's the last thing I want to do… I don't want to crucify them. I want to use it as an opportunity to change behavior."
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Nick Young sent out a now-deleted tweet that read, "Aye if you want some attention take a pic of me and say anything next to it and post…The world we live in," according to Deadspin. A source told NBC Los Angeles that the incident actually began when someone in Jones' car made an offensive gesture after a minor traffic misunderstanding.
L.A. native Nick "Swaggy P" Young, 30, has been with the Lakers since 2013 and is engaged to rapper Iggy Azalea. Rapper Kendrick Lamar is his cousin. Jordan Clarkson, 23, was born in Florida and has been with the Lakers since 2014. He is also reportedly in a relationship with Victoria's Secret model Chanel Iman.
Jones is the author of a self-help book for women titled I Am That Girl.
Update, 5:30 p.m.: Lakers spokesperson John Black stated that after talking to Young and Clarkson, the Lakers have concluded that "there are different interpretations of what happened" on Sunday, City News Service reports.
We support Nick and Jordan and believe what they told us about the incidents and their actions. We also are supportive of Alexis and her feelings about what happened, about women's rights and the fine work Alexis is doing with her organization.
Black said that he has spoken to Jones and her publicist to try to set up a meeting between her, Young and Clarkson, though schedules haven't lined up.
"We will also continue to stay in touch with her about the possibility of addressing our team about the important issues with which she's involved," Black said.
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